Endwar
by Zeroraid
Summary: Humanity wasn't ready when the Endwar came, that doesn't mean they where gonna go down without a fight.
1. Prologue: It begins

_Ok so this idea used to be a one-shot under a different name. However because of a combination of writers block and going over what I wrote I decided to redo this. I'm not ashamed of what I wrote or anything, but I feel like I could do a lot better, also I feel like what I implied in this following chapter may of set it up for something different. So yeah, I'm going to go over this with new ideas and scenario. Now for those that are rereading this chapter for whatever reason, know that not much has changed in this chapter save for the ending. So if you want to skip to that feel free._

* * *

**"Since the dawn of time the armies of Heaven and Hell have waged an endless war. Drawn to their conflict was the Charred Council, an entity bound by ancient laws to preserve order and balance throughout creation. It held that any great power left unchecked threatened the very balance of the universe."**

**"In time, Heaven and Hell came to honor the Council and it's laws, for none were beyond the swift and terrible justice of the Council's enforcers-a fearsome brotherhood known as the Four Horsemen."**

**"Amid the turmoil, the first humans emerged. The Council foretold that these weak, but cunning creatures would someday be integral to the Balance. Thus a third kingdom was named-the Kingdom of Man."**

**"By the order of the Council, a truce to be forged between Heaven and Hell. The great pact was bound by Seven Seals, to be broken at the appointed time-when Man's Kingdom stood ready for the Endwar-a battle that would bring balance and determine the ultimate fate of the three kingdoms…"**

**"That is not to say, that in the meantime, either kingdom allow their hands to lie idle."**

* * *

January 20XX

Manhattan

\- Central Park

With all the murders going around one would think that they would have learned the lesson by now; stay away from the park after nightfall. Humans weren't that smart it seemed. Truth though, Albelix was a bit grateful for mankind's stupidity. Letting his fangs tear through a piece of flesh the demon simply took the allowed moment to eat. Sanguine nectar slide down his throat as he stared at his work. An unlucky couple tonight, not a bad haul if he said so himself. He hummed slightly as he took another bite, though the noise he made came out more as a growl than anything before he looked skyward. Full moon tonight, certainly set the mood for a late night banquet. Reminds him of the nights when he made old London his grounds.

Still, America isn't that bad.

"Nice night isn't it?" Albelix pauses as he stoops eating, turns his head and sees someone walking down one of the paths; a young man, dressed in a coat and cowl from an era long passed. Fair dark skin and messy raven locks, with eyes of molten gold-ember that shined in the moonlight. "Perfect night for a walk in the park don't you think?" They drag their two headed longsword along the ground.

"A hunter." The demon mutters before taking another bite as he watches the figure stands a good few feet from him. "I had heard the rumors-that your lot was still alive in this day and age, but I didn't believe them."

"As long as you guys slip through the Fade to come for those of the Third Kingdom-we'll be here to protect them." The demon just laughs as he looks at the human, picked himself up and dropped the leg he had been feasting on. "Come on, let's get this over with. I got homework to finish."

The Hunter charges, moves at a pace that should be impossible for a mere human to achieve. He's fast, but it's nothing Albelix finds concerning. He remembers the old days-the old battles; Angels are faster. He just swings an arm as a demon magic leaves his limb, creates a waves of dark fire that the Hunter dodges by jumping over. When they're close they swing their weapon and he blocks with his arm, before he pushes them away and off balance as he makes to grab them. They dodge, using their momentum to spin around and duck under the offered limb before stabbing their weapon into his arm. When it's pulled free they step forward, bringing their weapon around their back and strike his chest. Shallow, nothing to worry about.

Albelix just claps trying to grab hold of his target only to miss as they roll to the side. They let their weapon scrape the ground as they turn to face him, a small trail of sparks following the act before they charged. They jump when he fires another wave of flames-this one parallel to the ground and lighting a tree on fire. The Hunter just brought their weapon down, missed as he pushed it to the side and struck with his tail. A hard blow to the stomach sends them back and when they recover he's already on them. Swinging an arm gets met with a block. They roll, scrape his arm with their weapon before making towards his back. Another scratch and they block the next hit me makes when he turns to them. They double back and he presses his attack, grabbing the hunter's throat with one of his hands before smashing their heads together. The hunter counters by snapping one of their hands out and grabbing his face and earns a roars. There's a burn on his face now, an improvised branding that he can feel before he tosses the hunter into one of the trees.

The Hunter just grunts as he picks himself up, only to drop again as Albelix feels his face before stomping forward. The hunter takes a moment to steady themselves and breathes. In an instant their gone, even from Albelix's senses and the next he's doubling back as something pieces his belly. Before him the hunter just twists their weapon and snaps one of his hands free, he act being followed by a bolt of ashen sanguine that sends the demon back. They recover, and find him swinging his weapon down to release a wave of magic at them. They defend with their on dark magic, radiating an aura that protects them before expanding outward into the world; forcing the hunter to brace themselves.

Albelix raises an arm, Infernal Magic erupting from the Hunters feet as a sphere of energy. They just roll to the side and return to their feet. Raising their weapon over their head they block his tail as it threatens to smash them into the floor. The Hunter turns, twists the limb to the side as his weapon separates into matching blades. When the tail stabs into the floor he stabs it with one blade before throwing the other like a dart. Albelix just raises an arm, lets the blade dig into his skin before the hunter crashes down on the offered limb, smashing both his feet into the blade before pushing it down further into demonic muscle. Albelix just swings his arm, knocks them off before grabbing their throat with their good limb and holds them in the air. The hunter just grabs their arm, tries prying it off as he's lifted further off the ground. Albelix just glares at the hunter before opening his mouth ad bringing the hunter closer.

He stops though when something grabs his arm from below, snakes around the limb and slams it into the ground. The hunter breaks free and takes a few steps back, their shadow birthing ashen tendrils that hold the demonic arm steady. He makes a gesture, throws one of his hands as his tendrils grab hold of the demon's other arm and pulls him down as well. It's Albelix's time to struggle as he tries freeing himself and the hunter just brings his second hand to his first. In an instant he pulls them apart and with them the demon's arm go into shadow, ripped from their master's body as he releases a scream that's heard for miles.

When it's over the Hunter grabs his shoulders and drops to his knees, ashen vapors rising off his body and crimson spills from his lips. Moment the blood touches the ground it seems to boil, almost like some type of acid was hitting it. "Damn, that always hurts…" After the pain subsides the hunter picks himself up and looks at the demon. Their panting for breath, their feet seemingly glued to the ground as they look up at him and glare.

**"Hrni… hrni nij'h ewlg… rpjhlg."** The Hunter just steps forward and twitches his fingers, a pulse of magic pulling one blade from shadow as the other rips itself from the demon's tail. When they reach their master he just holds the blades separate in either hands.** "N ma fph ejl ez m blvnej, mjd ieej hrl glih irmbb zebbe."** The hunter twirls his weapons once. **"Rlmwlj nbb jeh wgehlsh oep, Rlbb nbb seal zeg oep… hrl Ljdmg ni seanjv rpjhlg... mjd oep mgl jeh glmdo."** In one swift movement the hunter brings the twin blades down. An instant later the Demon's head falls and for a moment the Hunter just watches the blood pooling from a severed neck. He spins his blades again to wipe them free of blood, reconnects them at the hilt and makes the weapon vanish into ash. He reaches down and lifts the head by one of it's horns and hoists it over his shoulder.

He leaves the park, but he doesn't go far-not that he'd be able to go far in his choice of attire and a grotesque head over his shoulder. Instead the moment he leaves the park he heads straight for a relatively large van and climbs in the back.

"Welcome back Hunter, how'd the Hunt go?" A older man greets him as he watches the hunter drop the head on the floor as he twitches. "Ah, come on, at least let me pull out a container first." The man whines as the the hunter just sighs and gets settled. "Do you have any idea how hard it to get the blood out these carpets kid?"

"Not really." The Hunter mutters as the light of their van hits him. He's… young, couldn't be any older than 18 and yet he was a hunter, one that just took down a demon with more than a few centuries on their belt. "So you guys miss me?" Him included, there's four in the van, which in itself is hooked up with a combination of monitors and other assortments of gear. All of them enchanted to work and pick up the supernatural.

"Not really." One tells him. "I had a feeling that you'd be fine."

"You're always fine after all." Another admits. "Besides this wasn't your first rodeo."

"Well that's true." The Hunter admits as he looks to one that's silent and seeming to focus on their cupped hands. "Hey, you alright?"

"Huh, uh yeah…" The youngest of their little group was maybe 16, and as it stood he dressed himself in the garbs similar to the young hunter, only they were more decorated with vials and pouches.

"How's the stomach; still in knots?"

"Yeah." They muttered. "Sorry, I was supposed to go out with you tonight but…"

"Don't worry about it." The Hunter stated as he watched one of the older men just grumble something as they struggled to lift the demon's head off the floor. Heavy thing it seemed, but they pulled it off in the end, raising the head above the ground and sliding a container under it. The other man just knocked on the back wall and caught their drivers attention. In an instant they were moving and the hunter just sighed as they leaned back in his spot. "When you're stomach's better-when you're ready you'll go out."

"Yeah." The younger Hunter-one still in training muttered as they looked at the group for a moment before turning to the discarded head. "So what's going to happen to the body?"

"I called clean-up the moment he went in." One of the older men muttered as he took a drink of coffee. "They'll be here to pick up the body within the hour."

"Can't have the locals finding a demon body lying around in the park." The other admitted as the Hunter just stretched.

"So what's next for tonight?" Noah asked as he picked up some papers and went back to doing what he had been doing earlier this night; homework.

"Five seconds." The one at a computer muttered as they started looking through something and pulled on a pair of giant headphones.

"We have more to do tonight?"

"Most likely." One of the older men stated as he sighed. " If there's anymore Demon's nearby we'll be sent to take care of them. Well us or the others."

"Looks like we're in luck though." The one at the computer stated as he leaned back and pulled the headphones off. "HQ just gave the word, doesn't seem to be any more activity tonight."

"Good, that means we can all go home." The other man stated as he looked at the severed head. "Well soon as we drop this thing off."

"Let's do a lap around Manhattan and wait a while." The Hunter stated as he wrote down an answer on his math homework. "Just in case someone pops up after we disappear for the night."

"Gotcha."

"You think there's going to be other visitors tonight?" The rookie questioned as his senior hunter frowned at a math problem and erased his answer.

"Yeah, these past few weeks we've been having quite a few Demon's slip through the Fade." The Hunter grumbled. "Usually it's just one or two sneaking away from the Dark Kingdom thinking they'd get a quick snack-"

"Or just to get laid." The man took a drink of his coffee.

"But lately there's been a lot more slipping through for some reason." The Hunter stated as he wrote another answer. "It's definitely concerning."

"You think they're planning something?"

"Gotta be." The Hunter muttered. "They wouldn't let their kin just slip through the Fade otherwise-at least not in mass like this." He stated as he wrote another answer. "Besides… that last demon… he said something, something I couldn't get but it worries me either way." He frowned. "Something… something is definitely coming soon."

"You think we're do a Blight." The one with coffee muttered as he tapped their cup with their fingers.

"A Blight?" The rookie asked as they saw their senior shrug. "What's a Blight?"

"A Blight is when there's a massive infestation of Demonspawn that managed to slip through the Fade and come to Earth and cause havoc." The hunter explained before pausing. "You play Dragon Age?"

"Huh- uh yeah why?"

"Think that, just no Dragon to corrupt into an Archdemon."

"Oh...oh~."

"Last time there was a Blight, maybe an 8th of humanity got wiped." The man stated as he took a drink of his coffee. "We recovered of course, but it did its job, reminded the world that they are there, and we are dangerously outclassed in every shape and form."

"How'd we survive the last Blight then… how did we survive _any_ of the Blights-there were more right?"

"Course there were." The hunter stated as he put his homework away and fished through his backpack. "As for how we survived; members of humanity learned to fight back." He pulled out another piece of homework.

"Demons outclass us in almost every way." The elder man took a drink of his coffee. "They're faster than us, they're stronger, tougher… In order to fight them; humanity had to get smart. Had to use their cunning and intellect to find ways to beat them." He paused as he stared off into a wall. "Some were taught by traitorous demons that admired our grit, others by the Angels who were sympathetic to our situation. In the end though regardless of the teachers, be they human, demonic or angelic in origin, the results remain the same; humanity learned, they made weapons, started schools and organizations to deal with them."

"And that's how we were born." The hunter stated as he started on the next piece of his homework. "The Hunters, the Kingsmen, hell even the Tethered. Our organizations are the ones that were created, and we are the modern incarnations of the protectors of Humanity."

_"The Hunters, the Kingsmen, the Tethered… a long time ago, these organizations were well known throughout the Three Kingdoms-when demons and other beings slipped through the Fade. Small and effected but divided, they were humanity's defenders-their champions. That was a long time however. As the Blights ended and demons and other beings slowed their advances on the Third Kingdom; their support died down throughout the passing centuries and calmer times, their numbers dwindled, and they were inevitably forgotten."_

_"All save for a select few; families and individuals that had traced their bloodlines back to guardians of old, along with new blood that had stumbled upon the forgotten truth of the Kingdom. And yet these new generations were forced to reside in shadow, protect their world with unseen actions and unsung battles."_

"Oh…" The knots in the rookie's stomach started to tighten as he gripped it. "There's a lot riding on us isn't there?"

"You have no idea." The man drinking stated as he shrugged. "But you'll get used to the pressure sooner or later. After a while killing Demons just becomes like second nature."

"Right… but… " The rookie paused as he looked at his senior Hunter. "Why do demons come down here anyway?" He asked. "Mr. Roc just said that Angels and Demons leave their kingdoms to come here… but… why? What makes us so special?"

"That's the million dollar question." Roc stated as he took another drink of his coffee. "As you said, beings of both the Dark Kingdom and the White City had made it their business to come to this world on more than one occasion. As for why well… my guess is they were curious about the Third Kingdom, maybe it was that they were trying to get a foothold for some bigger game, or maybe they were doing it for shits and giggles. But they've always taken an interest in humanity, be it to guide us towards the light or corrupt us into the dark. " Roc pauses for a moment as he looks at his free hand. "That said; there's something about us humans; something that attracts both demons and angels alike." He makes a noise. "Maybe it's our frailty, maybe it's our innocence or ignorance, maybe it's just our nature." He clenches his hand. "Old writings say that since the old days more than one Angel had fallen for mortals- just as more than one Demon has ran from the Dark Kingdom do to the same circumstances." He made a scoffing noise. "Either case, those that do usually end up becoming guardians for certain humans, others still actually end up courting our kind and producing children of two Kingdoms."

The rookie made a noise as he looked to his senior hunter still working on his homework. "Children… of two kingdoms?"

"I'm not one of 'em." The Hunter smirked as he looked at the rookie. "You thought I was one because of my eyes right?"

"Y-yeah. I heard rumors from the others. Your strength, your speed… the reason your eyes glow an otherworldly light… it's all cause you're 'mixed'." Hunter actually chuckled at that and set his pencil down.

"Trust me, there's no Demon, or Angel essence swimming through that one's blood." Roc admitted as he set his empty cup down. "His family is just… different."

"You mean like Fey different or something?"

"Or something." The Hunter stated as he smiled lightly, tapped his cheek with a thumb and leaned further against the wall. "But that is a family secret."

"Hey guys." The one at the computer stated as he drew the trios attention. "Just got in from HQ, there's a hole opening in the Fade."

"Is it nearby?" The Hunter smile dropped as he stood, discarding his homework and walked over to the computer user.

"Its close, but it's still going to be a ride, but we should be able to get to it." The man at the computer muttered before he looked at his younger counterpart. "Wanna go for it or should we let someone else have this one?"

"Let's take it."

"You hear that Luke?"

"I hear ya."

Roc made a noise as he looked at his empty cup. "You still want to do a lap after this though?"

"No… soon after we're done with this one let's call it a night."

* * *

Morning

"Noah, Noah!" The young woman just frowned as she looked at the sleeper and nudged him. "Come on Noah, I know you're awake. Get out of bed we're going to be late for school."

"I don't wanna go."

"Well to bad, we're going." The young woman stated as she continued to nudge her counterpart for a moment before placing her hands on her hips. "Now up and at 'em, we got an attendance record to keep."

"You know I don't give a crap about attendance." The young man muttered as he reluctantly pulled himself from bed and looked at his counterpart. Vivien; his elder sister, though that was only by a few short minutes. "And neither do you for that matter, you're the one that skips class."

"I'm also the one with better grades." She states before stepping away and heading towards the door. "Now come on, take your shower and get dressed. We got a full day of tests to do."

"Don't remind me." The teen muttered as he watched his room door close before he started gathering up a few clothes.

_His name was Noah, youngest child to the fallen house of Bellerosé. An 18-year-old Hunter; a professional monster-slayer; one blessed -or perhaps cursed- with dark powers and tainted blood. As a Hunter, he served Humanity, not in the name of Balance, but simply to prolong their survival -as a Hexer, he used his abysmal powers to fight the enemies of both the light and the dark, and was seen as a heretic to humanity."_

The teen yawned as he ran to catch the light, his sister right behind him as she glanced in his direction. "Honestly, what were you thinking, staying out so late last night. You know we have school today."

"Hey HQ called, and I couldn't focus on my homework at the time." Noah muttered as he and his sister made the light and he slowed down to walk. "I figured if I got the blood pumping I'd be able to focus easier."

"And did it work?"

"I got my homework done in the end."

"At 12 midnight right." The young woman states as she nudges her brother. "And given the fact that you're seriously tired I don't think you really 'slept' when you were done either."

"I got a few hours in."

"How many-2?" She states and smiles. "Seriously, you need to get your beauty sleep more, you'll get bags and wrinkles at this rate. And our face is too nice to start looking terrible."

"Yeah yeah." The teen just muttered as he pulled himself to a stop and took a glance at one of the nearby store TV's.

"What's up?"

"Check it out." Vivien just stayed silent as she looked at the screen for a moment.

"Breaking News. Meteor Clusters Hit the Earth." She read as she made a noise. "Military begins evacuating citizens." She crossed her arms. "Well that's not good."

"Yeah." Her brother muttered as he continued listening to the broadcast for a moment. "I thought the clouds looked kinda ominous today."

"It shouldn't be too bad though."

"I wouldn't count on that."

"Why do you say that?" Noah just pointed skyward as his sister turned her head, just in time to see a meteor crash into one of the buildings as the screaming started. "Oh… shit." The twins moved looking at one another as the city came alive, people running beside and over one another as several more meteors started to fall. "Oh shit!"

"Let's go!" Vivien didn't need to be told twice, chasing after her brother as they ran with the rest of the city.

"Noah, subway!"

"On it." Noah moved, pushing through the crowd as he turned to follow after his sister. When they made their way to the station they took cover, as did a few smart others as they felt the ground start to shake. "You ok?"

"Yeah, I think someone touched my ass on the way here but I'm good."

"Oh my, what a tragedy." Noah rolled his eyes before he took a minute to watch the subway shake again. "Suddenly I'm not to sure about being underground when there's meteors pelting everything above."

"Would you rather be outside?"

"No."

"Didn't think so." Noah reached for his phone, pulled it out and started going through his contact.

"Who you calling?"

"Mom and Dad." The teen muttered before his phone rang halfway through his search for the number. "What the, why are they calling at this time?" The teen grumbled as he answered the call. "Hello?"

"Noah, glad I got through to you."

"Not the best time, Nomad." The teen muttered as the ground above him shook again. "We got meteors dropping on our heads here."

"That's not all you got."

"What the hell is that supposed to mea-" something howled and Vivien twitched. Both twins looked towards the stairs to the outside world as the screaming resumed. Running back outside the twins took a moment to look around, watching the city continue to be bombarded before their eyes rested on something stomping in the distance. Massive in nature it tossed aside cars and buses alike. It wasn't alone, there were other hellish creatures as well charging as well, most of them of a smaller stature and running over and across the streets like a pack of wild dogs. Noah just put his phone to his head as he looked down another street, finding another pack of these hellish creatures charging off somewhere as well. "Nomad~."

"I know, and it's not just your city; holes are popping open in the Fade everywhere on earth. Monitors are going crazy."

Noah froze before his eyes narrowed. "You mean…"

"I'm saying we got a Global Infestation on our hands… it's a damn Blight."

"What's going on Noah?"

"We got work to do." The teen muttered as he lowered his phone and looked at his sister.

"Noah… Noah you still there? There's more you need to know."

Ignorant to the next words Noah hung up the phone and stared off into the distance. "It's a Blight." His sister narrowed her eyes as well and looked to the demonic infestation.

"No more hiding then."

"No more hiding." Both twins reached for their bags as they disappeared into ash. Their clothes followed, being replaced with their Hunter's garbs as they held their weapons ready.

"I'll take the left."

"Then I'll take the right. Stay alive."

"You too little brother." They concentrated everything they had into one burst, seeming to disappear from the world as a noticeable displacement of air was felt..

A woman screamed as a demon fell upon her, making it's attempt to leap at her. It never made it, in an instant it was skewered, Noah's twin blade stabbed through the side of its neck. He spun the weapon, slamming the creature on the ground as he ripped his weapon free and faced the horde. Others turned to him, they roared and charged. He didn't waste any time; the first one he met he dodged, bringing his weapon around as he struck their face before moving to the next. This one lost an arm as he spun and followed it by cutting them in two uneven halves. The third he dodged and moved around kicking them in the chest before turning and stabbing his blade into their throat. The demon struggled for a minute before falling limp above the ground. Noah just took a minute to pull his weapon back and held it at his side.

"O-oh my god."

"Run!" Noah didn't even look back as he barked the order, but he heard the woman scramble to her feet and take off anyway.

In the meantime the rest of the demons just looked in his direction and roared. The sole human drawing their attention in an act of either bravery or stupidity as he looked at all of them for a moment.

"Well what are you waiting for?" They charged and Noah took a moment to adjust his weapon and started forth. "Come on."

The horde charges, and he meets them. Faster members of the horde get to him turns in a full circle, his weapon spinning around him as he starts.

_'Goremaws; lesser demon. Pretty much Hell's variation of demonic dogs. Small, fast, work in numbers.' _One lunged at him and he ducked under. His blade took their limbs, he moved to the next. He deflected a strike twisted and stabbed a third. He returned to the second, kicked it away before stabbing behind him. When one came at his side he separated his blades and stabbed one into the creature's eye. Pulling back he returned his focus to the one he had kicked and swung his blade at it. It dodged stepping to the side before lunging. He countered by ramming his shoulder into its face and pushed it back before stabbing it.

Noah reconnected his blades and turn to face the next batch stopping when he saw a car falling in his direction. He dodged as fast as he could rolling to his side before returning to his feet. Another Goremaw was on him as he locked it's jaws between the handle of his weapon. He separated his weapon in too as he stepped back, When it fell forward he kneed it in the face before sandwiching it's head between the handles and headbutted the demon. He turned, pulling one weapon back as he knocked the demon to the side before doing a full turn to swing his blade at another and stepped forward. He reconnected the blades before throwing a hand out, an ashen sanguine tendril latching onto another Demon and pulling them to his weapon. Turning he slammed the skewered demon into another before pulling his blade free with a full turn.

The rest of the demons just looked at the sight, whether they were surprised by the human's quick work of their kind or impressed or even worried was up for debate. That said however they charged him nonetheless, moving seemingly in a frenzy as he met their charge. He jumped off a car, denting it's hood as he took to the air before spinning his weapon behind him and over his head as ashen magic gathered around his blades. He brought it down in the middle of the horde spikes of ashen vines erupting from a earth as they skewered the masses. When he rose he returned to running.

_**"Hrni… hrni nij'h ewlg… rpjhlg… N ma fph ejl ez m blvnej, mjd ieej hrl glih irmbb zebbe. Rlmwlj nbb jeh wgehlsh oep, Rlbb nbb seal zeg oep… hrl Ljdmg ni seanjv rpjhlg... mjd oep mgl jeh glmdo."**_

He remembered the fallen demon's words as he bit his lips and moved, spinning as he swung his weapon through the horde and pressed on. "This was what he was going on about, they were just heralds for a coming Blight." He muttered as he cut down another demon and skid to a stop. One leapt at him and he dodged twisting as he planted a hand on the ground and slammed his leg into its face. He heard a scream and got to his feet, without looking he threw his weapon, letting the twin blades spin like a saw's blade as they stabbed into a demon's side. He raised an arm, calling his weapon back as one charged him from behind. Clenching his fist he backhanding the creature into a car as his blade fell limp and hit the ground a few good feet away from him. Another pack of Goremaws and the hunter just took a step back and curled his fingers, bones cracking as they were wrapped in ashen energy that take the appearance of claws.

The first that charged took a fist to the face and went back, the next that came at him took an uppercut to the jaw and a second to the chest. He ducked under the third and went for the forth, extending the claw to grab onto it and brought it over his head. He slammed it into the ground, dragged it along the dirt as he charged and jumped. He smashed it into another before letting them go and threw a kick, effectively punted the pair across the street. When it was over Noah as he slipped his foot under the handle of his weapon kicked it upward. The ashen energy disappeared as he grabbed it and brought the weapon back.

"A few down… a billion or so to go." Something roared in the distance, drawing his attention as he narrowed his eyes. Big one raised a car over it's head and tossed it at him from across a couple streets. Noah slid a foot back on the ground and took a breath. In a second he's gone, a small displacement of air following the act as landed on top of the car and kicked off. When he landed on the ground he rolled to his feet and caught the large Demon's attention. _'Trauma; lesser. All muscle… this is going to be tough.'_ The demon roared at him, making the coattails of his uniform billow. They raised a fist meant for him as he pointed his blade forward, and in an instant it fell something crashing into its head as Noah's eyes widened.

_'Why?'_

Beautiful white wings.

The being, the angel stood, pulling her majestic greatsword from the Trauma's skull with a single hand and let the scarlet slip off as the demon dropped. Only she did not fall with it; instead with a flap of her wings she steadied herself in the air and gazed down at the hunter. In all his short years, he had heard of them, her kind were real, but never had he been lucky enough to actually see one before.

_'Why is she here?'_

"You have fought well son of man, your actions today bring honor to your Kingdom." The cocoa hued, sapphire eyed woman stated. "But the day is not done. More of hell's army lies in wait." Noah took a moment his gaze shifting to see few of the demons that had been running off were being pushed back. Heaven's forces here. "I shall pray to the Creator for your safety in the coming battles."

"Why…" Noah muttered as the woman turned her attention to see a new demon leering at her as she returned the glare. "Why are you here? Why is Heaven's army here?" He asked. "Old writings say the Angels have had nothing to do with past Blights so why?" _'Don't tell me…'_

"Blight?" The woman muttered. "That is your term for Demonic Infestation, yes? Make no mistake child this is more than a simple 'Blight'."

_'Don't say it.'_

"The seals have been broken, battle right have been declared, and the Endwar is upon us." She stated as Noah felt his heart stop. "But something… something is wrong. It is to early, The Kingdom of Man isn't ready yet…" The woman whispered as she heard a demon's roar and turned her head. A large demon growled as it glared a her. She returned it's gaze and turned towards it. Without another world the demon flew at her and the teen watched her fly after it as well. They met in the sky, colliding in a mess before breaking away. How their fight went Noah wasn't sure. He drowned it out, focusing his attention on nothing as repeated the words in his head.

_"The seals have been broken, battle right have been declared, and the Endwar is upon us."_

The Endwar; the End Times, the Apocalypse, the final battle between Heaven and Hell. "Well fuck~." The teen muttered as he shook his head. "So it's that time finally… I heard about it in the old writings but I never thought…"

_"But something… something is wrong. It is to early, The Kingdom of Man isn't ready yet…"_

"What did she mean though, how can it-" Noah heard something roar and he was snapped him out of his daze. He moved, rolling to the side as a Goremaw almost bit into him. "Focus Noah, no time to get distracted." He saw demons climbing over cars and buses, several of them looking at him before howling. "You are literally in the middle of a war here-try making sense of things later." He told himself before charging.

Atop a building a figure took a moment to watch, their twin guns resting beside them as they looked at the young hunter's action. "Well what have we here?" They muttered before watching him take down another demon. One demon charged the watcher themselves and he barely turned, hole ripping through their head as they dropped to the ground. The watcher lowered their gun before making a noise. "He's not bad."

Ten steps and Noah vanished, reappearing behind a demon as he spun his weapon. He took their neck, and moved on to the next, stabbing downward as he threw himself over the demon and made a number of strikes at their back. When he landed he cut of their legs, and before a demon latched onto his weapon arm with their teeth. He winched slightly, before snapping his free hand to their face and burned them with his palm. When they backed up he countered swinging, taking their head before looking around. Surrounded he spun his weapon before taking a few steps to the side and looked at the horde. "What I'd give for some back up right now." The hunter muttered as he brought his weapon behind him and grabbed it with both hands and separated the blades.

There was no graceful dance, there were no acrobatic stunts, all there was was a display of refined skill blended with bestial fury. Blood was spilled, flesh was cut, bodies fell, Demon's dropped one after the other as Noah moved between them… and they kept coming. Every one he cut down seemed to be replaced with two, and every two was replaced with four and so on. Seemed like the whole Horde was focusing on him at the moment. Still Noah didn't stop, rather he kept his focus on cutting down the masses before him.

Getting tired, he may have been trained to fight this, but he hadn't the desired experience under his belt for dealing with demons in such mass. Most he got were two or three a night, not… this. _'Gonna have to start concerning stamina.'_ Noah thought as he kept moving. _'Keep it tight-keep it fluid, don't waste any movement. Rather use one of the more flexible styles, but they're exhausting.'_ He told himself before watching a number of demons lunge him. They stopped however, being pushed back from a wave of energy that exploded around him. "That wasn't me." The Hunter muttered as he looked at the strange energy that was dancing around him.

"Still alive Noah?" Smiling he looked behind him, his attention momentarily shifting to Vivien coming to his aid. That mammoth sword of hers hoisted over her shoulder as she returned the smile.

"You would know if I died."

"Yeah, being twins have it's benefits." Vivien stated as she stood with her brother and got ready for the next wave. "I hates that you're always in the back of my head though."

"Can't be helped, I'd close the door connecting us if I knew how." The Hunter stated as he adjusted twin blades and reconnected them. "Survivors?" His tone shifted, becoming serious as his sister's smile dropped.

"We're getting the last few downstairs now." Vivien stated as she watched the pack of Goremaws start circling them. "Let's buy them a bit of time, then retreat for the day."

"Gladly." That said the two hunters charged as the demons returned the gesture.

* * *

**"The law is clear: when the Seventh Seal is broken… Four Horsemen shall ride forth to punish the wicked… be they Sons of Men...Lords of Heaven… or the Dregs of Hell."**

**"All upon the Earth will be judged, and the pact forged anew…**


	2. Prelude: Underground

"_One month, one long month."_

"_That's how long it took for the meteors to stop raining down on Earth. Angels and Demons alike spilling forth from the Gates of their respective Kingdoms, turning Earth into a battlefield fit for the ages. That's what the Endwar was though, wasn't it? A war to end all wars. A war between angels, demons, and man."_

"_And for what? The name of an absent Creator? For Balance? Because the Charred Council demands it?"_

"_When the first days, when the first hours of contact was made; no excuse was brought up, no battle rights were declared. War needed no such sporting obligations. The Lords of Heaven and Hell clashed in the streets and continued their blood feud after an armistice had come to an end. Man was caught in the middle of their eternal war, dying in the streets and gutters like rats. They played an oh so small part in this Endwar, with Heaven and Hell quickly coming to believe that their extinction was all but inevitable. But if that was the case… we wouldn't have much of a story would we?"_

* * *

Manhattan Underground

The Underground; before the Endwar began it didn't exist. No officially anyway. It was a rumor, a conspiracy. It was built by the Freemasons, and it's doors were hidden in the old subway systems. It's doors were hidden in the underground stations - protected by alchemic wards in case of invasion.

Across the world; Underground had become haven during the Endwar.

Looking around Noah just stared at the thousands of people that were residing in the Underground. Men, women and children - countless individuals he'd never met till now had been brought here. They weren't certain what to do, though he understood they were trying to make sense of what was going on in the world now. Demons ran wild across the globe and angels had descended to combat them. This was no fantasy or masterful illusion. They had seen them when the Endwar began, seen them with their own eyes. How could they make sense of such things without questioning their beliefs?

"You know, if we were born into regular families, we'd probably be just like them right now." Vivien muttered as she stood by her brother and crossed her arms. "We'd be questioning everything that we knew and believed about the world."

"Yeah." Noah said simply as he put his hands in his pockets as he watched a baby cry only to be tended to by its mother.

"Come on, let's get to we're needed at command." Vivien stated as she put her hand on her brother's shoulder as the two started walking off.

Turning his attention elsewhere Noah just sighed as he looked to his surroundings. The Manhattan Underground; he'd been here once before, back when he was a child. The Hunters had brought him and hundreds of other children here to show them where to come should things go bad - should something like "now" happen.

"You know they could really do some refurbishing down here." Vivien shrugged as she looked at her brother. "Stones nice an all, but they could really update the look here. Put in some paint, maybe some benches and beds."

"Actually they were in the middle of doing some changes before all this started." Vivien admitted as she looked at her brother. "But I guess they'll have to put the finishing touches on later."

"Ah." Noah shrugged as the two walked into command. Command was one of the only three places in the underground that had been given a relatively updated look. Looked kind of like the command center of a safehouse, though his best guess is that the end result would be somewhere on the lines of a military bunker.

There was a woman at the center of a room, looking at a map and talking to a few others. When she saw them though she raised her hand telling them to give her a minute as they just hung back for a moment.

"It looks like the meteor shower finally stopped, and you know what that means."

"It means that the forces of Heaven and Hell have fully deployed, so the Endwar's officially started."

"We've already taken a hell of a pounding though, we lost a lot of our satellites during the Fall, and we're having trouble getting communications through to the cells across the world."

"We need some room to breathe too." The woman stated as she pointed somewhere on the map. "Move your people here, try and get us some footing so we're not boxed in like this."

"Yes mam." The Hunters stated as they left the room and started to leave, leaving the two younger members alone with the woman.

Rachel Synhart was the leader of New York's Hunter Division, as such every hunter in the Big Apple answered to her. She was a tall woman, maybe about 7ft and in her 40's, with pulled back black hair and light skin.

"Noah, Vivien, it's good to see you two are still here." The woman stated as she gestured them over. "Knowing you two I half expected you to go running off and causing trouble for the demons."

"Thought about it." The two said together.

"Weather was too crappy though." Noah stated as the woman just smiled lightly.

"Well then, given the weather's finally clearing up how about going out to get some exercise?" She didn't really wait for a response. "Manhattan's completely overrun, we can't make a move without them spotting us."

"So we're going to thin the herd a bid?"

"That would help us get some room to work with. As you heard though, I already have a team heading out on that. One of you can join them if you're up for it." Rachel stated before continuing. "If not I have something else in store."

"What?" Vivien asked.

"As Michael said; lots of the satellites and radio towers were hit when the Fall started, but some of them are still out there." Rachel admitted. "There's an old radio station here." She pointed to a spot on the map. "I want to send one of our technicians to see if they can get it a radio broadcast out, that way we can try contacting the rest of the world." Noah just looked at Vivien for a moment.

"You want this one?"

"Yeah, I'll go with that group." Vivien stated as Rachel nodded. "So you get to thin the herd and grab us some breathing room." Noah just nodded as he looked at the map.

"Where do you want me?"

London Underground

Without much of a word a young woman just sits in what had become her quarters, her eyes closed as she pushes her blonde hair back before looking at the clothes presented before her, actually seated on the table before her. Without much prompting she strips down, removing the everyday clothes she had been wearing up until now and started getting redressed.

The clothes itself is… revealing to say the least. A bodysuit made from a special nano-woven material; flexible - breathable - and highly resilient to even the claws of a Trauma demon, as well as magically attuned to bolster her magical abilities, and reweave itself when damaged. It hugs her like a second skin, reminds her of the training clothing from her youth. The armor that goes over it; the leggings and greaves, the rerebrace and gauntlets, the breastplate were all heavily inspired by knights, with a few modern day alterations. The armor was mentally attuned to its wearer; it moved at the speed of her conscious and unconscious thoughts greatly enhancing her reaction speed and enchanted to bolster her physical prowess. When she puts the helmet on she would be greeted with a heads up display, augmenting her vision.

For the moment though she leaves it off and prefers to trail her fingers the waist cloak present before her. Like her bodysuit it bore both a magical enchantment - one that healed any wound it touched and a resilient but silk like nano-weave. It was mostly a keepsake however, one she inherited from her mother. When she ties it around her waist she takes a moment, turns her attention to the weapons presented before her as she starts hooking them to her form. Powerful magnets on her leggings hold twin auto-guns, each one enchanted so that her mana became bullets. The last; the one on her back holds the claymore, a massive blessed sword engraved with runes of power that burned the flesh of the wicked, be they a fallen Lord of Heaven or a feral Lord of Hell. Someone knocks on her quarters door and she just stares at her helmet, noticing the few knicks and scars it bore. Reminders of the last time she wore it into battle.

"Galahad?" A voice calls and she ignores it, looking at the helm before putting it on. "It's time."

"I know." The lady knight, code-named Galahad of the Order, admitted as she turned to her fellow knight and started walking forward. At the center of their gathered square she found hundreds of men and women dressed the same as her, the Order's knights; her brothers her sisters in all but blood. She strides forward, moving past the survivors that hadn't been aware of the Order's existence till these dark days were upon them. "Now; let's take back our city."

* * *

**Alright this is a very short chapter I made a couple days ago. I was thinking of doing more for it, but I couldn't think of what to add to it. That said, this is where the changes officially start from what was previously posted. We're not doing a yearly time skip, we are starting right at the beginning of everything. If your interested in this variant, let me know.**


	3. Act 1: The World of Armageddon

_"When man started crawling out of the Underground their Kingdom had been reduced to rubble. The world as they knew it was gone, replaced with a shattered reflection of all they had once known. Earth has become a sight of the greatest battlefield Creation may ever know, and much of its surface is tainted by a demonic growth, "The Burn", a corruption that seeks to terraform the world of man, making it more suitable for demons."_

_"This is the Stage of the Endwar; and Angel, Demon, and Man are the players in our story."_

* * *

"Wow…" The rookie muttered as he stared at Manhattan, taking in the ruins of the Big Apple. "Everything is… everything's just…"

"Totalled." Noah muttered as he clenched a fist and stared skyward, his attention focused on something in the distance. Beside him and the rookie there are two others, both being girls; Samantha and Lia. "Personally I don't know what bothers me more; the fact its in ruins, or the fact that I wish were all gone."

"Why would you want it to be gone?" The rookie questioned as he looked to Noah.

"I wish I knew." Noah shrugs, summons his twinblade, and twisted it a bit as he looked it over for a moment. "Glad I sharpened this thing before we left." The weapon is of a simple yet curious sight. For a double bladed weapon, the handle is particularly short - being about the length of an arm. One blade is the length of a zweihander, the other the length of a shortsword; they're both thick, sturdy, and wonderfully sharp. It was Noah's custom weapon, and though not seraphic nor demonic in origin it was highly effective against both entities in combat. "Ready partner?"

"I think so." The rookie said as Noah just glanced at him. Wasn't talking to him but good to know either way.

"Well that's good to hear." Samantha remarked as she brought a circular shield into existence. "We need to be ready for whatever happens up here."

"Yeah." Lia remarked as she put her lance on her back and they started walking forward. Her lance looked a bit curious, the base was like a jousting lance, with a half oval circle surrounded by five flanged edges converging towards a single point.

They just looked around as they walked, getting a better look at the city as started moving through it. The lance wielder turned heavenward, looking to see a plain sky dancing overhead.

No signs of Hell's influence, least not yet. Shame she couldn't say the same for the soil.

"You ok, Lia?" Noah asked as she just looked back ahead.

"Yeah, I'm fine Noah." Lia stated as she turned her attention elsewhere.

"So uh…" The rookie muttered as he looked at his counterparts. "How big's this foothold gotta be?"

"How big is Manhattan Central Park?" Noah asked as he looked at the rookie.

"Are you serious?" The teen just chuckled as they kept moving.

"Relax, Noah's just messing with you." Lia muttered as she looked at the rookie.

"Hey you never know."

"Samantha." Lia turned to the shield wielder as she looked back at them. "How much room do we need?"

"About a mile should do to start us off." Samantha admitted.

"That's not much." Samanthta nodded her head in defeat. "We need to take back all of New York."

"I know, but that's to much for just the four of us."

"It's a good thing we're not alone in this." Lia admitted as Noah just nodded his head. Their welcome party, their first wave encompassed only 8 teams scattered over New York, with each team holding 4 individuals so that made 32 Hunters and Huntresses in total. It wasn't much, but they could make it work.

They had to.

"Where are we setting up camp?" Noah asked as he looked at Samantha as she seemed to think back for a moment.

"We'll have to build a safehouse somewhere." She admitted as the rookie just looked at her.

"Uh… why do we need a safehouse, can't we just go back down the subway?

"No." Lia admitted. "Heading back down isn't an option for us, there's too much going on up here." She stated. "We'll be staying up here, establishing a safehouse and give others a place to rest while we're here."

"But we don't have the tools for that!" The rookie got a look before the others turned to Noah.

"He~ hasn't graduated yet."

"Oh." Lia stated as she looked back to the rookie. "I pity you."

"You'll have to consider yourself an early graduate, then." Samanthat stated as she put a hand on the youth's shoulder. "There's an arcane sigil that we can use to transport gear from Headquarters to outfit ourselves and fortify our safehouse."

"We're allowed to do that?"

"Yeah, we've been using it for previous Demonblights and smaller incidents." Noah admitted as he turned his head. "You can think of it like a version of the militaries supply drop, just we don't do it by air. Soon as we get to a safe place, we'll inform them and they'll get everything ready and send them over by a teleportation array."

"Oh... ok." The rookie muttered. "That's convenient."

"Yeah, but it takes a few minutes." Lia stated. "As I said they have to get things together before they send it over." She paused for a moment. "And anything can happen in those few short minutes you know."

"Right, I guess that makes sense." The rookie muttered as he made to say something only for Noah to suddenly raise his hand to silence him.

"You sense it too." Samantha asked as she looked into the distance.

"Yeah, we've got company." Each hunter grabbed their armaments as they got ready, the sound of joyous screaming reaching their ears as the buildings seemed to come alive as figures started crawling over them.

"Hu~mans!"

"They look tasty."

"Where were you hiding?"

"Call it Sam." Noah instructed as Sam flexed her shield arm.

"Lia, Noah, disrupt their ranks, Rookie you're with me, we'll focus on any that get past them." "Simple and easy." Lia stated as she brought her lance back. "Noah."

"Lia." Noah just spun his twinblade before bringing it back as well, his right hand touching the edge of his weapon as he pointed it forward.

"Don't die."

"Don't plan on it." The air distorted- a sudden gust of displaced wind kicked up as the two vanished and the Rookie covered his face on impulse. The next time he saw them they were making their first kills on the other side of the street.

"Let's get to work rookie."

"Right."

Lia stabbed her lance forward as she punctured a demon's chest before pulling it back. She turned, aimed for a second and knocked it off balance before raising her hand and grabbed another demon by their mammoth like fist before pulling. She knocked it off balance as she twistd bringing her lance into its eye as it reared back screaming. She twisted again, taking its head before kicking the body away. A bolt of hellfire got her to move as she rolled to her feet, trying to get up before she was forced to block a blade with her lance and the ground buckled. They raised their weapon up, bringing it down again as she blocked again. This time however she rolled, bringing them over her and kicked them off as they landed on a car, crushing it under their weight. She flipped to her feet as she turned her lance, pulled at the handle and shrunk it. Her "test swings" involved her using the weapon as a sword - better yet a bat or long mace against any demon that got close to her. She smacked one in the face, and sent them off balance, reversed her swing and forced them to lunge in the opposite direction before doing it a third time and sent them to the floor. The next one she batted away, sending him flying to one of the broken buildings as they landed in one of the floor.

"You're in the way." Noah kneed a demon in the back, knocking them off balance slightly before suddenly kicking them back down below. He turned, ducking under a demon's sword and stepped back, dragging his twinblade through it's throat as spun around. He pointed elsewhere, red-orange and black embers wrapping around his free hand as he swung it forward. A whip of energy swinging from his hand as he attacked the rest around. His whip wrapped around one more Demon and he pulled it forward before punching it elsewhere. He pulled his twinblade from a dead demon's neck as he moved, jumping to the next building and using the demonic growth as a foothold and started running up the building.A demon caught his attention as he as it looked down, roarin and suddenly raised it's arm before throwing a fireball in his direction.

"There's so many of them." The Rookie shouted as he started taking steps back and raising his arms,small fields of magic blocking it's attacks before he stepped around them. "I've never seen so many of these guys in one place!"

"Id expect no less from Armageddon." Sam muttered as she raised her shield, blocking a sword before knocking it back. She slammed the edge of her shield into the creatures chest and then it's jaw before throwing her weapon into the crowd. Her shield… did not obey physics, it bounced off every demon it hit without losing momentum as she ran. She jumped off a car flipped into the air and caught her weapon before dropping it on another's head. "These are just the ones that fill up a small portion of a Lord's ranks, the main force will come later." She turned, and raised her shield to block another swing before sliding back. The demon swung at her as she took a breath, weaved and smashed her shield into its elbow before kicking it in the chest. She grunted when something hit her in the back, a burst of demonic lightning scorching her uniform as she stumbled. She forced herself to turn though, using her shield to intercept as sparks started flying in multiple directions before she started running forward. The demon sorceress just made a noise as it stopped its lightning and found itself punched in the face. She went low, knocking it off its feet before dropping her shield on its face. She grunted as she got back to her feet, her back burning as something landed, causing the ground to shake. She turned, her attention staring up at a Trauma who roared down at her before raising both its arms and brought them down.

The mini shockwave that was released caught everyone's attention as they took a moment to turn. Noah stabbed his weapon in the side of a building using it as foothold as he took in the sight. "Great." He muttered. "That thing might be of lesser class, but it'll take all of us to take that thing down." He tsked as he detached one of his twinblades and took a breath. "Well, it ain't gonna kill itself."

Londan

"Be not afraid!" Galahad heard the call from her fellow knight as she stepped forward, claymore in hand as she watches the horde start to charge them. She charged, her knights charged as they headed into battle. Despite the weight of her weapon it was a feather in her hand as she swung it. She breathed, blood starting to coat her armor as she pressed forward. They were outnumbered and there were no angels to fight beside them, but that was fine.

_'We did not survive this long by relying on the angels to protect us.'_ She told herself as she cut down another demon. "And if need be, we will survive the Endwar without them." She told herself as something in her stirred. She didn't let it bother her however, pushing the feeling down as she looked forward. "Be not afraid." She told herself as she looked ahead. "We will win this, and we will survive." She whispered as her blade was soaked in blood and something stared down at her. "Be not afraid."

* * *

**And we're back. I haven't updated this story since June, and I need to apologize for that. I've been spending a lot of time trying to focusing on other stories I have posted and I've been pushing this story to the back of my mind.**

**I've still been thinking of it, trying to come up with concepts and plans for it, but most of those revolved around having to take this down and work on something _else _to lead up to the Endwar, basically putting more meat on what the Hunters do and all Noah had to go through before all this. Going in it this without explaining things like this feels like I'm making readers miss out on a lot of important details. As I get back into working on this, I'll try having moments where someone drops some much needed exposition on how things.**

**That said what really got me back into working on this is Darksiders Genesis being out, and now I have an idea of how the last Horseman Strife acts, so when he and the other Horesmen make their eventual appearances, I can be as close to as accurate as possible.**

**Sounds like an excuse I know, but It's the truth. Also with more lore being presented in Darksiders Genesis I can maybe make this a bit more accurate and maybe introduce a few things from the game like the Inferno Vault or the Bloodmantle. Who knows may even introduce Dis.**

**Regardless, I'll be working on this some more now. I'll still be working on my other stories to, but depending on how well I do this one won't take another few months to get a new chapter out.**

**Later.**


	4. Act 1: The World of Armageddon Pt 2

Felling the Trauma Demon didn't put an end to the waves of Demons that had to be fought, it didn't even deter them the slightest either. More still came, drawn by the scent of blood and the sound of conflict. In the end the Hunters had to run, it was that or face what seemed to be a never ending army coming towards them.

"I swear these guys just don't know when to quit." Noah whispered as he peeked from behind a corner, watching several demons trying to sniff them out. "We can't even find one damn neighborhood where these bastards aren't prowling around.

"You sound surprised." Lia stated. "Remember where we are now; of course they're everywhere."

"Yeah but…" Noah muttered as he seemed to think back, thoughts drifting to white wings as he frowned. "Where are _they_?"

"Where's who?" Sam asked as Noah shook his head.

"No one." Noah grumbled as he looked back at the others. "I'll tell you later, when we get a minute to really breath."

"Good luck with that." Lia stated. "There's to many of these guys moving around to get any real room, let alone set up a safehouse."

"I hate the fact that your right." Noah stated as Sam seemed to think.

"Well…" She began. "There is a way to get ourselves some room, but it's risky."

"Well at this rate I'm up for anything." Lia stated as she got to her feet. "What is it?"

"Someone draws them away." Sam stated as the rest listened.

"You mean someone becomes bait."

"Yeah. Whomever does it will draw the horde away while the rest of us press on to find shelter." Sam admitted as she looked down.

"Is that a good idea?" The rookie asked.

"We'd be throwing one of our own to the wolves, and there's no guarantee they'll be able to make it back to regroup with the rest of us." Lia stated.

"I know." Sam said as she fastened her shield. "That's why I'm going to do it." Noah just made a noise.

"Yeah~ no." He stated. "We need you here, I'll go."

"We don't have time to argue about this Noah."

"You're right we don't." Noah stated as grabbed his twinblade. "But we need _you_ to live through this, can't have you dying out here." He started walking over to the edge of their hiding spot. "I'll see you guys later."

"Noah…" Sam muttered. "It's my plan. My responsibility." Sam stated as she headed towards Noah, stopping only when Lia held her hand out to stop her. "Lia."

"Noah's _faster_ than you are." Lia stated. "The chance of him outrunning them are a lot higher than yours." She explained before lowering her arm. "Leave it to Noah, he'll lead them away and give us some much needed room before coming back. Sam just frowned, staring at Lia and then Noah before sighing in defeat and reached into her pocket.

"Fine." She muttered before tossing something at Noah. "Here take it." Catching the item, Noah just took a moment to look it over before making a noise. It was a marble, well it looked like one anyway. Though he could sense a faint magical aura radiating from the sphere.

"Lucky marble?"

"It's a small Tracer." Sam muttered. "You'll be able to find your way back to us as long as you have that."

"Thanks, I'll be sure to give it back later." Noah stated as he made the device disappear and started walking towards the street. He took a needed before looking towards the coming horde. He watched a demon roar in his direction, alerting the others before taking a breath. He tapped his foot on the floor before crouching slightly. "Let's get to work."

He moved, seeming to fade out of existence like a mirage as one of the demons was suddenly reduced to exploding parts. He whistled, skidding to a stop as the rest turned to him. Just like that however he moved again fading out of reality as he started down the streets.

They simply followed, chasing after him like dogs at a racetrack.

Sam just watched from their hiding spot as she took a breath. "Be safe Noah." She looked back to the two that were with with her before putting her shield on her back. "Lets go."

* * *

Radio Station

Vivien stopped her attention turning elsewhere as she seemed to frown. "Vi, you alright?" The girl just looked at her team as she seemed to come back from her thoughts. A faint frown crossing her face as nodded and went back to looking elsewhere.

"Yeah, I'm fine." The girl stated. "It's just, my brothers doing something stupid." She admitted as her team looked at each other.

"How can you tell?" One of them asked as another tapped their head.

"They're twins." The girl stated. "They have that weird twin telepathy thing."

"I'm always in the back of his head, and he's always in the back of mine." Vivien stated before looking at the others. "And it's not weird, Abby. It's just a thing all twins have."

It weird with them too!" Abby stated as Vivien stuck her tongue out.

"Alright you two enough." A boy muttered as he pushed the door to the broadcasting room and looked around. "We got a job to do, so let's see if we can get these things working."

"Right."

"On it." Vivien stated as she stepped forward before looking back. "Careful Noah."

* * *

Streets

"_Careful Noah."_

"Will do sis." Noah muttered as he turned, skidding to a stop as he looked back and saw the group of demons still chasing after him. Good news he still had their attention, the downside was that he couldn't run forever. Obviously the longer he ran the further away he got from Sam and the others, and that gave them a bit more room to work with. "Problem is I can't take all these guys out on my own." He could try." By the Creator he could try. "Well, Running won't solve all my problems." He muttered before tapping his foot on the floor a few times, and rushed forward.

He appeared beside the first Goremaw, grabbing it's face before suddenly slamming it into the ground. He turned, arcane flying from his fingers as he formed a whip to to attack the others. Two dodged, one ducking, one leaping over the attack as they came for him. Noah merely dodged the first's attack, kneeing it in the chest before knocking it back. A Grappleclaw promptly stepped on it as it attacked the Hunter. Noah dodged, bending back to let it's large fist fly over his head. It turned, swinging that mace like tail of its, tearing through parts of buildings and throwing cars. This one hit home, knocking him into the side as he went flying, still without much prompting Noah twisted in the air, and in the span of a split second, focused his magic to pool at his heel.

He launched himself from it, avoiding a wild swing as he landed on a building and started running alongside it. The demon just threw a fist, breaking the wall and he dodged, jumping to a bit of debris and using it as a foothold. He landed on the Demon's head, stabbing it with his twinblade before channelling mana through it, resulting in a torrent of thrashing vines to burst from the back of it's head. Soon as that was done he jumped off, swinging his blade in an overhead arch as it cut into the ground, dozens of twisting spikes growing in his path before fading away like ash in the wind. Noah turned to the others, reversed his grip on his weapon, twisting it as he threw it. It spun in a full circle countless times as it raced forward, cutting a number of demons as he turned and enveloped his hands in mana before swinging them. Dual whips bit into the crowd before they could back up, tears and bitemarks forming on their bodies as they roared. He thrust one of his whips forward and clenched the other; the whip pulling a demon back only to suddenly get punched across the room.

Another got close s Noah dodged it's attack, and he called is weapon back to him. He didn't catch it; instead he moved out it's path, letting the weapon dig into the demon before he took it and cut it's head off. The rest weren't dettered, they just charged coming at him as he swung his twinblade breaking it into two before noticing that one was inhaling. It's chest starting to glow crimson as he threw his blades into two others and pinned them to cars. He made gestures with his fingers and thrust them forward, barely moments after the demon started to breath.

Flames from hell suddenly froze in it's throat, forcing it gag as it's body started to bulge. He slammed his palms together, and in an instant the demon imploded, flames spilling out in every direction as it started burning the rest of it's pack. The weak were incinerated in an instant while the rest barely seemed to notice. They did howl at him though continuing their charge as called his blades back to him and got ready for another round. "Come on."

"Be not afraid!" Bolts of light slammed down from the sky as Noah suddenly turned his attention skyward and smiled.

White wings.

Redemption Cannons and Angelic Lances fired upon the demon horde, as they started to drop. Those that noticed them retaliated, several taking to the air as they dueled with angels. The rest stayed on the ground as Heaven's soldiers met them. "I was beginning to wonder where you guys disappeared to." Noah muttered before rejoining the battle and stabbed a demon with his twin blades before spinning around and cutting out part of its neck. A soldier of heaven split a demon in half as he turned and made to stab at it. "You."

This angel, it was the same woman he had seen during the first day of the Endwar. Cocoa skin, white-blonde hair and cold sapphire eyes.

"We meet again, child of man." She muttered as she turned, her great sword in both hands as she faced the rest of the horde. "It does my heart well to see a warrior of the Third Kingdom still stands."

"Yeah well, right back at ya." Noah stated as he stood with the Angel. "It's good to know Heaven is still in this." He reconnected his blades and held them ready. "If you got a minute, we can talk later."

"Indeed." The Angel agreed and the horde roared. She charged, her wings carrying her across the battlefields as Noah followed. For a weapon even larger than she was, that great sword may very well of been a dagger in her hands. There was no delay in her swings, no wind-up, no opening. "_Fast as Lightning"_; that was perhaps the proper analogy for her sword swings. That massive weapon failed to miss its intended target, and it tore through flesh and bone without so much as a hint of resistance. She turned when one attacked her from behind, blocking with her blade and took one of their arms. Their roar was silenced by their head suddenly leaving their shoulders.

The Angel took to the air, dropping to the ground a moment later as an arch of blue-white left her blade. Stepping to the side she dodged another strike before stabbing forward and ripped her blade free with an overhead arch. The swing didn't end there; her blade continued to move in a full 360° as she formed a halo of light around herself. When it ended, she stabbed forward, her blade pulling her forward as she impaled another before cutting it down. When one came from behind she suddenly turned her blade sending half of it across the streets as Noah watched it fly elsewhere. He whistled, not bothering to hide how impressed he was before stabbing another demon in the throat. The Angel watched as one of her allies fell, a Trauma shoving them in their mouth and started to bite down. Faster than one could blink she rammed into it and for her efforts she was rewarded with a whole tearing through the demon's gut as it suddenly dropped, dark crimson pooling around it's wound as the other angel started trying to pull themselves out its mouth.

"Now that's a woman right there."

* * *

**That wraps us up for this chapter. It's not a lot but this admittingly helps me get back into the feel of writing this story... well that and listening to the Darksiders OST, gotta say the music really helps get the gears to star turn again after having this thing effectively on Hiatus. Anyway I don't have much to say for this chapter, just that we have Angels making an entrance pretty early, showing that they're obviously still in this despite Abaddon's secret plan going out the window.**

**That said, their role in things will be revealed likely in the next chapter (this is not a spoiler because it's obvious). As of now I'm looking up angel based names to grant our greatsword user, if anyone's got a recommendation I'd happily take it, if not I'll figure something out myself.**

**Anyway; a tiny note. Noah using magic to cause a demon's fire breath to swell and implode, yes that is a shoutout to Sypha from the Netflix adaptation of Castlevania. Love the series and the adaptation was worth watching. Still how many more references I'll make to the franchise is... questionable. I'll figure something out though. ****On that though, if - and ONLY if - I start adding crossover elements from other franchise and games, I will introduce an OC Belmont. The whole crossover thing though is up for debate.**

**Anyway I'll check back in within a week or two. See what I can draft up and bring back to the table. See you.**


	5. Act 1: The World of Armageddon Pt 3

There were no cheering when the battle ends. Just dead and wounded in the streets. There are so many dead ; a great many of them demon, but that makes little difference in a time such as now. Noah can't help but take a breath as he puts his weapon on his back and wipes his brow. He watches the Angels all but do the same, taking a much needed breather from so much spilt blood.

"Hard to call this a win." Noah muttered as he started walking towards a kneeling angel, their hands resting on one of their fallen brothers.

"Though this battle has ended the war still continues." The angel stated as she closed her eyes before getting to her feet. "I fear a great many more will fall before this ends."

"That's to be expected though." Noah admitted as he looked at the angel and watched her turn. She's _big_; 8ft big and that golden armor of hers had most of its luster, replacing it with countless scars and dried blood. "I mean, you know what's going on here."

"Yes you are quite right." She stated as she looked down at him. "Still, you have my thanks, child of man." The lady admits. As she holds out her hand. "I am Chayyliel, Warden of the Hellguard."

"I'm Noah, Hunter of the Third Kingdom." Introducing himself Noah held out his hand to take the Angel's only for her to pull him forward and grab his elbow.

"Well met, Child of man." She greeted before letting him go. "Still, you do not carry the scent of a pure human." She states. "Something clings to you; and it is not of the White City, nor of the Dark Kingdom…"

"Yeah well~." Noah paused. "You said your a Warden, right?" He changed the subject. "As in Storm Warden; the elites chosen by the Archangels themselves?"

"You know of us?"

"We covered a few lessons on you guys in Advanced training." Noah admitted before pausing. "Got to say, I'd actually find this an honor if the situation wasn't what it was."

"Agreed." The angel muttered as she looked to her greatsword stabbed into the earth. "Are there more of you?"

"Humans or hunters or like me?"

"In a way; both I have not seen your kind beyond the dead."

"Yeah well, we got caught by surprise." He admitted. "But there's more of us. Lots more."

"That is pleasant news." She stated before looking elsewhere. "And you are right, we were all caught by surprise here."

"About that." Noah began as he crossed his arms. "When I first saw you, you said something. You said it was too early, what did you mean by that?"

"Simply that; there is an anointed time for when the Endwar is meant to begin." The Angel stated with a frown. "That time simply hasn't arrived, and was not meant to for perhaps another seven ages."

"Oh, well shit." Noah muttered as he looked elsewhere. "Do you know why it started early?"

"No." The Angel stated as she seemed to think back. "All I know is that the Hellguard were mobilized to come to earth, and it appears we were expected." There was a scream in the distance, catching her attention as her eyes narrowed. She reached for her blade, pulled it straight from the earth before preparing to march.

"You plan on going after the rest?"

"That is the duty of the Hellguard." She said simply. "We are duty bound to bring an end to as many infernal spawn as possible before we fall."

'You go, everyone's bound to die."

"I know. But what do you suppose we do?"

"You got a place to rest and heal your wounds?" She turned at that, staring down at him with a blank expression.

"Are you suggesting a tactical retreat?"

"Basically yeah." Noah stated as he sighed. "Heal your wounds, make a plan, survive to fight another day, then beat them into the floor."

"Is that how humans fight?"

"It's one of our methods." Noah stated. "Survive. Adapt. Win." He smiled at those words. "Survive the encounter, adapt to your enemy, win the battle." The Angel just looked at her wounded and made a noise. "Your boys ain't gonna make it another fight."

"I know." The Angel admitted as she raised a free hand to her lips, and whistled.

What responded was not of this world, though it certainly was known in the Third Kingdom. It bore great wings and birds head yet that armored body was that of a lion.

Ortho

An Angelic beast, those that lead to stories of the Griffons.

"Let the wounded rest upon the Ortho." She stated and watched her soldiers gather. "We're returning to Sanctuary." She ordered as she helped gather the wounded to let them rest upon the Ortho's back. Noah helped as well, easily lifting a body clan in Empyrean steel before setting it on the angelic beast's back. When they were done, he turned to the Angel, giving her a thumbs up and got a confused look in return. She and the others took off, the Ortho's following right behind them. Not to be left behind Noah latched onto it's leg as it carried him off.

The flight is… quiet. He can't hear the sounds of conflict as they fly across the streets, staying just above the buildings as they moved as one. "Like the silence before the storm." He muttered before leaning into the armored leg.

"It must trouble you." An angel's voice called to him as he turned to them. "Seeing your world like this; It must weigh heavily upon your heart." The angel states and Noah refuses to answer for a while.

"Not really." Was his eventual answer. "If there's one thing that I've learned from human history its that both buildings and whole cities can be rebuilt, the trees can be replanted and the blood can be washed away." He sighed. "I'm just wondering how much blood will be spilled before all this ends." He muttered the rest before turning away to look at his city.

Reaching the sanctuary of the Angel's… Noah actually wasn't certain what to expect. Perhaps the roof gardens of the Brooklyn Grange or the Manhattan museum , hell perhaps even one of the parks so the Ortho had some room to stretch their legs.

"I really wasn't expecting a casino ." Noah thought with a snicker as he looked to the rest of the Angels. "Never took angels for gamblers." He joked as they all touched down and he stepped out the Ortho's shadow. He didn't help with the wounded this time, just walking up to Chayyliel as she seemed to frown and gaze of in the distance."So, what's your favorite pastime here?"He asked lightly. "Blackjack? Slots? Roulette?"

"I… don't know what these things you speak of are." She said honestly as she gestured for the youth to follow her. He did without question, letting the giant of a woman lead him off as the wounded were brought in behind them. "But we simply wait here, taking time to rest and recuperate."

"Well that's better than nothing." Noah admitted as he tapped his foot on the ground and continued following the woman. She leads him to further into the back, and he lets his eyes wander, having them turn to the others that are already here Many are injured, scarred as well but they are healing. "Is this all of you?"

"No." Was the woman's simple reply. "Many are still outside fighting, but we all make up this arm of the Hellguard."

"And the rest?"

"Scattered across the Third Kingdom, fighting as you and I." She looked back at Noah, and his attention turned to her wings. "Do you need rest?"

"That'll be great but I don't need it now." Noah stated. "You on the other hand look like you haven't rested in days."

"Yes, well that is something expected." She muttered before turning to the others.

"How long have you been awake?"

"Several days." The woman stated as Noah crossed his arms with a frown. Several days. Knew angels must of had stamina, but even then she must be running on fumes by now.

"You should get some rest." He told her. "You can't fight a war while your exhausted."

"I can rest later." She told him.

"If you can do it later you can do it now." The teen muttered as the Angel led him towards an office and took a seat. "You look ready to collapse."

"I am." The Warden states as she sits across from the teen. "But I can rest when reinforcements come."

"That might be a long wait." Noah remarked as Chayyliel shot him a look. "You know what I mean." Noah was met with silence. "Or~ maybe you don't." He sighed. "Look I don't know how things run in Heaven but reinforcements might take a while - or they'll be here by tomorrow, can't say for sure." The teen muttered explaining himself. "You should get some rest while you can, can't lead when your dead on your feet."

"No, I guess not." Chayyliel remarked as she looked to her greatsword. "I must remain strong for my faction, yet their still much work to be done."

"No lie there." Noah muttered as he crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat. "So what are you gonna do for now?"

"I will try contacting the rest of our forces in Heaven." Chayyliel stated. "As it stands I have failed to get a response for support, I need to know why." She stated as she rubbed her temples.

"Anyway I can help?"

Unless you can speak Enochian, I'm afraid you will not be of much help." The Angel stated as Noah chuckled.

"Guess I'm useless then; I haven't learned to speak the language of angels yet."Noah admitted before his smile slipped and he started to think. "I've heard it plenty of times, from both angels and demons." Chayyliel narrowed her eyes at that. "It's a kind of bastardized version but I recognize it." The teen admitted. "Why is it that Demons speak your language anyway?"

"That is the work of the Betrayer." Chayyliel stated with a low hiss. "He and his Fallen "gifted" the denizens of the Dark Kingdom with the Enochian tongue long ago. However it is… bastardized as you say." She admitted. "I do not know the full details of why he taught it to them, for the Demons have long since carried their own tongue, one we and his Fallen have long understood."

"Maybe he did it out of pure spite." Noah threw out he shrugged. "You'd be surprised what people teach just to spite someone."

"How true." Noah burned a small tracer into existence as he started tossing it into the air.

"Anyway." He began. "While your trying to get in touch with the White City, there anything I can do in the meantime?"

"You still offer help?"

"My job is to protect humanity." Noah stated. "One of the job requirements is that I kill troublesome demons." '_And rogue angels.' _He added mentally as he tossed the tracer into the air again. "As a Warden of the Hellguard, I'd say we share a common enemy."

"Indeed." The angel admitted as she looked the teen over for a moment. "I believe you children of Man have a saying; _The enemy of my enemy is my friend_."

"That's it." Noah states as he takes a breath and made the tracer disappear. "And so long as you don't try "purifying" al humans you come across I'd say we can be friends for a _long_ time." Noah smirked. "Perhaps even more than friends." He stated playfully as Chayyliel raised an eyebrow in confusion. An instant later her pupils dilated as she flourished slightly, and then frowned in embarrassment.

"Don't get your hopes up." She stated firmly as Noah got to his feet with that same smirk. "But if you wish to help us, we need assistance on the western waterfront. A division of the Hellguard have been facing demon attacks there regularly. They need support."

"Consider me support." Noah stated as Chayyliel waved her hand over the table between them; over the map resting atop it as she brought it to life, angelic mana made a 3D model of a destroyed Manhattan while Noah watched.

"You've got to teach me that."

"Here." She pointed at a spot on the map. "They were positioned." The angel stated as she watched Noah lean over to get a better look. "By foot the travel will be long, so I will lend you an Orthos. They will carry you to the Waterfront."

"Got it." Noah stated as the 3D city disappeared and the two left the room. "Oh right…" He paused for a moment. "I'm hitting up one of your soda machines before I leave." Chayyliel gave him a look.

"What's a soda machine?"

* * *

**It's two days late but happy new year everyone, and welcome to the New Millennium! I hope you the new year treats you well and you enjoy it to its fullest.**

**now this chapter admittingly isn't much to look at, but it was meant to properly introducing Chayyliel; an 8ft tall, greatsword wielding Storm Warden of the Hellguard.**

**We also get a little something explained about the Betrayer (Lucifer), having taught Enochian - rather a bastardized version of Enochian - to the demons sometime after his failed rebellion. That's just a little something a crammed together after thinking about it for a minute. Granted in the game everyone seems to speak english, but that's more for us as Gamers to understand what the hell was being said, but in some games and real life there's times when a person slips into their native tongue and most of of us are left out the loop.**

**An in-universe example of this came into play in the prologue; when Albelix spoke Enochian and Noah hadn't the faintest clue what was being said to him, but it gave him a bad feeling.**

**Another example is in the Darksiders 2: Death's Door comic, when Death speaks a dead language and again we can only guess what he said.**

**That aside, Chayyliel, I got her name from this Angelicpedia I looked up while trying to find her a name. It means "Army" apparently.**

**Likewise there's brief mention of ****Empyrean steel near the beginning of this chapter, that's supposedly a celestial metal that angelic weapons and armor are fashioned from. Found out about that from this Demonic Paradise wiki I looked into a few times. If you want to take a glance at it yourself, feel free to browse. **

**Regardless that's all I have to offer for you guys at the moment.**

**Oh if you want to get an idea of how Noah looks I have a picture of him posted on my Deviant Art account here: ** kurogetsuouji/art/Noah-825730672

**Later.**


	6. Act 1: The World of Armageddon Pt 4

The Orthos was beautiful. Noah thought as he stared at the feathered beast. It was large, just like the Griffons in the stories he had heard of, but seeing it up close. "Majestic, barely begins to describe such a thing." The armor it bore, the Empyrean steel was scarred, and dented from countless battles, but it still shined with a wondrous light. Noah just watched the beast be brought towards him and Chayyliel. "I gotta ask." He stated as he turned to the Storm Warden. "Where do you find these guys anyway?"

"The Eggs of the Orthos are originally found within the World known as the Old Lands." The angel stated as he looked to her.

"The Old Lands?" Noah repeated the name. "Never heard of it."

"It is an old world forged by the Makers, one that regrettably fell during our early wars with Demons." She admitted. "Before it was shattered however, we collected as many of the eggs and brought them to the plains of the White City and let them roam free under the care of the Beast Masters."

"You guys have Beast Masters?" Noah raised an eyebrow as the Orthos was brought before him. "Guess I can't say I'm surprised, someone has to look after these guys." He raised a hand, letting the Orthos lower its head and seemed to smell his hand for a moment.

"I think she likes you." The Storm Warden stated with a faint smile.

"What can I say; I'm a hit with the ladies." Noah watched as the Orthos lowered itself, letting him climb onto its back and settle in on the armored saddle.

"Few humans ever gain the privilege of riding the Orthos, you should consider it an honor." The Angel stated as she pulled something off her neck. "Take this." Charryiel flew up to Noah and handed the teen a necklace.

_Crossblade Necklace_

_A crest showing alignance to the White City._

"This will show my brthers and sisters you stand with us." Noah stared at the necklace for a moment before putting it around his neck and let it disappear under his cowl. "They will not attack you so long as you carry that."

"Riding in on an Orthos won't give em that idea?"

"As loyal an Orthos may be to the White City, they can be forced to fight for the Forces of Hell." Chayyliel stated as Noah made a noise.

"Guess that makes sense."The teen muttered as he rested his hands on the Orthos back. "So how do I get this one to fly - oh fuck!" The Orthos made a noise as it took off, catching it's rider off guard as it started flying off in the distance. "Left! Left! Left!" Chayyliel watched as the teen started flying the Orthos trying to get it to fly in a certain direction and not into a building. "Now right! That's a good girl!"

"He catches on quick." Chayyliel muttered as she watched the Orthos fly off. "Not the most graceful take off though."The angel muttered as she turned and started walking towards the others and started planning her next course of action.

* * *

With Noah

"You know." Noah called out as he clung to the armor of the Orthos. "Chayyliel's pretty hot." The teen told the beast. "I mean sure she's got a few scrapes and bruises, but she's really a looker." He chuckled. "You think she's single?" The beast didn't respond. "Figured I ask." The teen muttered as he was lead through the city. As they flew he took a breath, reaching into his mind as he seemed to look for something. "Vi? You there?"

"_Always."_

Hearing Vivien's voice in the back of his head Noah sighed in relief. Good she was still alive. Got a bit worried for a moment.

"_Noah, it's only been two hours? I'm not going to croak in that little time." _

He heard his twin chuckle.

"_Besides you'd be the first to know if I dropped."_

"Yeah I guess you're right." Noah smiled lightly. "You're in my head after all."

"_Anyway, what's up, you need something? How's the foothold going?"_

"Not to sure. Last I saw the others we were dealing with a small horde."

"_So where are they?"_

"They're dealing with finding a spot for us. I volunteered to lead the horde away.

"_I knew you were going to do something stupid earlier!"_

Noah rolled his eyes.

"_Anyway you alright? Where are you?"_

"Flying on the back of an Orthos." Noah stated. "Ran into a few angels, and offered to give them a hand. In exchange they loaned me an Orthos."

"_That was nice of them."_

Noah nodded. "S how are things on your end anyway?"

"_Good… I think."_

"What do you mean, you think?"

"_I have no idea what the others are saying or doing; all the technical stuff is going over my head."_

"Ah, so what are they having you do?"

"_I'm basically a lookout."_

"Ah~" Noah shrugged. "We're better at hitting stuff so it makes sense."

"_Yeah - oh hang on a second… What?"_

He heard an echo through his sister's mind.

"_Sorry Noah, Duty calls, talk to you later?"_

"Sure, be safe sis."

* * *

Radio Station

"Will do." Vivien stated as she pulled herself off the wall and stretched. "Well, time to get some exercise in." She smiled, reaching for that mammoth blade of hers as she started walking off. "We'll see you guys in a bit." She looked to Abby, the girl just nodding as she followed after her.

"You want me to put up a barrier?"

"Yeah." Vivien admitted as the two walked out the room and closed the doors. "That way any that get past us still can't reach the others." She stated as Abby touched the door and seemed to trace something over it. "Well, less they double back and kill us first."

"You know how there are some things you shouldn't say to others?" Abby looked at her before making a face. "That would be one of them." Abby pressed her hands into the door as they pulsed, a green sigil appearing around her hand as it started to spread across the material. "Anyway that i'll keep them focused on us for the time being." She stated as she looked back, her attention turning to the few that were already creeping into the room from the other end of the hall.

"You up for this?"

"We were trained for this." Abby stated as she and Vivien started towards the charging demons.

"Fair." Vivien went first, and in an instant the few demons that were charging into the room were reduced to a series of flying limbs,organs and blood. All of which landed on the walls as Vivien put her bloody sword down.

"I swear your as messy as ever." Abby stated as she cracked her knuckles and popped a few joints in her neck. "Why can't you be like your brother?"

"We're yin and yang, Abigail." Was Vivien's response. "He's clean, most of the time I'm messy." She states. "Besides, it gets the job done quickly."

""Yeah I guess." Abigail grumbled as she stepped forward, walking over the tattered remains of a stomach as she andVivien made for the next room, to get enough room to fight.

"That reminds me, speaking of my brother, you know he's single right?" Abigail blushed as she punched her counterpart in the shoulder. "Ow what?"

"I'm not going to date - let alone marry your brother."

"Why not? You're strong, you'll fit right in with the family."

"Is physical strength all your family cares about in finding a suitor?"

"It's physical and mental strength we primarily look for, but yeah." Abigail looked at Vivien. "We're wired that way, a Belerosé only likes strong suitors."

"That explains so much…" Abigail blinked, seeing a Demon already charging her. Vivien tore its head of with that mammoth blade of hers. Abigail moved before it dropped and stopped before the second. "Let's continue this later though." The demon looked down only for a fist to snap it's skull back up. Abigail followed with another punch as she started pounding away at the demon's chest before spinning, kicklanding on the demon's neck as it staggered. It looked back to her a second later, retaliating as it threw a punch that she deflected with her arm and pulled to bring the giant down. Her fist ground into its face as it retaliated, throwing a kick only for her to step over the limb and grabbed its face before pulling down. Its face met her knee and it responded by grabbing her, throwing her to the ground and intending to stop her into the floor. Abigail seemed to blur, moving behind the demon in an instant before grabbing it by the back of its neck and pulled it back.

Vivien winched as she heard the neck snap, but still watched as the body dropped. "Did you have to snap its neck?"

"Well unlike you I don't carry weapons.

"Yeah because you practically are one." Vivien muttered as she looked past Abigail and say the rest of the horde starting to approach the room. "Highest score wins?"

"This isn't the time for games Vi."

"I'll give you a prize if you win~."

"Please, there is nothing you have that I want." Abigail muttered.

"I can get you pictures of my brother with his shirt off."

"I'm not going to court your brother!"

"We'll see~"

* * *

Streets

Noah sneezed, raising a sleeve to his nose as he wiped it. "Someones talking about me." Noah muttered as he looked at the Orthos. "That ever happen to you? Sneezing cause someone's talking about you?" The Orthos said nothing as it flew on, eventually reaching the waterfront as it landed. Noah was greeted by an angel, his armor scarred and stared up at the human. Without a word Noah flashed the crossblade necklace around his neck as he jumped off the Orthos. "Chayyliel sent me. Said you needed support."

"We were not expecting a human to come to our aid." The angel stated as he looked at the Orthos. "And we did not expect you to come alone."

"Your Storm Warden and the rest of her division. are going to need some time to heal up."Noah put the necklace away. "Hope you understand."

"I do." The Angel stated as he looked to his wounded division. "I understand all too well." Noah just looked around. It looked like these angels were on their last legs; this month long Endwar obviously hadn't been kind to them.

"Can't fight a war alone." Noah muttered as he reached for his sleeve, pulling it up to reveal a symbol of sorts etched on it. He tapped it, pulling at arcane embers and ash as a water bottle came into existence. "I wanted to save this though." He grumbled as he chuckled it at the angel. "Here. Don't use all of it ok?"

"What is this, water?" The angel stared at the liquid before noticing the strange glow that it carried. "No, not water." He stated as he looked at the young human. "This is healing mana condensed into a liquefied state."

"You can drink it straight, or sprinkle it on a cloth and apply it to a wound and you'll be healed right up." Noah stated. "Everyone from my faction carries a bottle of it on them. It's part of our emergency kit."

"I see, and you offer this to help us?"

"I offer you some." Noah corrected. "I'm still gonna need that when this is over."

"You have my thank's child of man."

"Noah." The teen stated.

"I am Anpiel." The Angel stated as he looked to his division, and started towards the closest. He barely got three feet before a call went out.

"Anpiel!" Both Angel and Noah looked to see a new angel flying towards them. "They are coming!"

"It appears your gift will have to wait."

"Looks like it." Noah muttered as the Angel tossed him his water bottle as he made it vanish. "If this was a damn video game we at least get a few minutes before things start, give us a minute t heal up and stuff." The Orthos roared as Noah glanced at it. "Can't have it all right?" He pulled at his twinblade, frowning as he broke it in two. "Let's go." From both sides of the waterfront demons swarmed them, the Angel's picking themselves up as they prepared to fight.

* * *

London

Galahad stabbed her blade into the ground, exhaustion overtaking her for a moment as she breathed, her helmet's rebreather making the noise come out like a faint hiss. She was tired. It had been less than a single day, and yet she was tired. '_Shows what to expect in the coming days.' _She told herself as she looked ahead, her attention focused on the horizon. She pulled her sword from the ground and looked around, her attention turning to the knights of her Order. Brothers and sister lay dead in the streets, and her people gave them a sending, whispering words to their fallen before returning to their feet and prepared to press on. Many would die before this was all over, but their deaths would not be in vain. "We will remember the sacrifices you made for us to press forward." She whispered as she looked ahead. Much as she wanted this day to end, there was still much to do before the night came. Touching her helmet she took a breath, frowning slightly as she activated comms. "Tristan."

_"Galahad."_

"How are things in your front?"

_"We have our dead, but the battle is ours."_

"I see." Galahad muttered. "The battles this day are but the prelude to a frighteningly long war."

"_That may be, but we were trained for this."_

"Agreed." She stated. "Have you had any contact with Gawain?"

"_Last I heard of him, was under a month ago, he was trying to make contact with the military."_

"And?"

"_Nothing, I'm afraid I haven't heard from him since."_

Galahad didn't say anything, just clenching her hand around her blade as she took a breath. "Gawain is alive." She muttered after a while. "He'll contact us when he can."

"_Right, what should we do in the meantime?"_

"We press on as planned." Galahad stated. "Merlin will train the acolytes down below, they will provide reinforcements when the second wave is ready."

"_Understood. Stay safe Galahad."_

"You as well Tristan."


	7. Act 1: The World of Armageddon Pt 5

Another hour, another fight. He was already getting tired of it, still, there didn't seem to be a damn thing he could do about it. So, Noah just sighed as he stabbed his twin blades into the ground and took a moment to look around. The battles won, but the loss is still felt. Angels are on the ground, beaten and tired. Their weapons are as scarred as their armor, only whereas the armor smell of sweat the weapons reeks of blood. "To think this is still the first day." The ten muttered as he stood upright and took a breath. "Then again, for them, this war's been going on for a few months now." He admitted before raising a hand and tapped his sleeve before pulling his water bottle into reality. He looked at his left arm, seeing it hang limp before pulling at the cork with teeth. When he was done he splashed the healing mana on his arm shivering slightly as the lacerating wounds started to close.

Sure he healed relatively fast, but 'a pick me up' wasn't a terrible idea.

Raising the healed arm Noah just flexed his muscle before looking to the others, his attention shifting to the Angels as he walked up to one. "Anpiel." The Angel in turn looked at him, his attention turned from the wounded he was checking on before letting it rest on the young hunter.

"Chil - Noah, what is it?" Noah just passed him the water bottle. "Thank you." He tore off a bit of cloth from his on his armor before soaking it in liquid mana. Soon as he was done, he started applying the wet cloth to the Angels wounds letting them soak in the rejuvenating liquid as the pain on their face started to subside. "I'm not certain how long we can hold this front." The Angel stated as Noah crossed his arms and looked around.

"Why do you have to keep an eye on this part of the city?" The teen asked as he looked back to Anpiel. "What makes this spot so special?"

"We aren't certain." Anpiel admitted. "Whatever the reason, the demons seem to be converging on this spot quite often."

"Really, wonder why." Noah muttered as he raised a hand and felt the air. "Hm…" Anpiel looked at the teen before moving to another wounded Angel. He started with the most seriously wounded, trying to at least stabilize them somewhat before moving on.

"What are you checking?"

"Trying to see if this spot is a "Place of Evil"." Noah muttered before lowering his hand. "Problem is with all the demonic power in the air it's hard to tell if it's natural or just their arrival." The teen muttered before scratching his head. "Have you guys managed to try looking to see if this place is hiding something?"

"We've searched, but we've found nothing as of yet." Anpiel admitted before moving to yet another Angel. "I wonder what could they be searching for here?" Noah didn't have an answer as he looked around trying to make sence of that himself. When he gave up he just took a breath before walking up to an Angel cradling his arm and looked it over.

"It's dislocated." The teen muttered as the Angel nodded. "Let me." He didn't exactly wait for a response, just grabbing the arm at two points, and with an audio crack realigned the bone.

"Thank you." The Angel weazed out as Noah just nodded.

While Noah wasn't a medic, he knew and had been in the field enough to know how to help out in the field, at least somewhat. He could realign bones and give wounds a rough but workable stitch. That bottle of healing magic was more for a last resort, when he and other hunters were at death's door and needed a second wind of sorts. '_Still, doesn't look like I'll be getting that back full.' _Noah thought as he pulled the armor off another Angel and started looking at their wounds. He frowned at the lacerations before touching his sleeve and burned a bag into reality. From that bag he pulled out a needle and thread, and started stitching the wound back together. '_Ad it takes me a while to condense mana into a healing liquid.' _He reminded himself. "I'll do it later." He told himself before checking his stitch and nodded to himself. Cutting the needle with a bit of mana he started on the next one.

"I question how long we'll be able to hold this location." The Angel stated as Noah glanced at them. "This location has been besieged countless times since the Endwar began, and we still have no knowledge as to why."

"Well you've been lucky for a while." Noah stated as he looked at the Angel. "These demons don't seem that organized, so chances are they're just ones clawing at free territory."

"And should they strike when united." The Angel didn't finish, felt no reason to. They both knew that an organized threat would likely lead to their end so long as they didn't have back up.

"You know I'm surprised." Noah began. "Despite how awful this city might have become, I haven't spotted one of the Lords of Hell." He admitted. "Any clue where they might be?"

"More than likely, they are lurking in the shadows." The Angel grumbled as he seemed to stare off into the distance. "Watching and waiting for when we are at our weakest."

"Well that's no good." Noah stated as he looked over to his twinblade and placed his hand in alignment to it before pulling his hand back. The blade vanish, disappearing into burning ash before reappearing in his left hand. He twirled the blades for a moment before putting it on his back. "Hard to know who you're really fighting when your opponents are hiding." Noah stated as he frowned. "Do you guys at least know which Lord might be hiding out here in New York?" The Angel shook his head. "Well, that sucks." He asked, looking elsewhere. "Maybe I should go fishing." He said out of nowhere.

"Fishing?" The Angel repeated. "You want to go… fishing?"

"Not really, but it's a viable option."

"During the Endwar?" Noah looked at the Angel before staring at him.

"Yeah." Noah said simply. "Just gotta dangle some bait, see what bites." Noah gestured to the waterfront. The Angel just stared at him like he had lost his mind. "Maybe I'll do that later." He mused before walking over to Anpiel. Seeing the teen the Angel passed him back his water bottle. Noah shook the near empty bottle and sighed. "Well this 'ill take an hour or so to remake." The teen grumbled as the bottle disappeared. "Anyway, you plan on keeping your men here?" He asked as Anpiel nodded his head. "No harm in returning to the others to rest up."

"We have to stay here." Anpiel stated as he stared at the dead in the street. "We have to find out why this place is so desired by the Dark Kingdom."

"I guess you got a point…" Noah grumbled as he crossed his arms. "Anyway I can't set up a barrier without any walls present."

"You've done more than enough already." Anpiel stated as he looked at the teen. "You fought beside us, and shared what you had to heal our wounded." The angel stated. "Thank you." He held out his arm and Noah took it, their handshake quickly evolving into the same one that he had done with Chayyliel. "Will you fight beside us in future endeavours?"

"We'll see." Noah stated as the Orthos behind him released a noise. "I should probably get this one back to the others. You got a message you want me to pass to the Storm Warden?"

"Let her know we still stand." Noah nodded as he headed over to the Orthos and jumped to land on its back.

"Alright, ready to go?" The Griffon responded by raising its massive wings and taking flight. "I'll take that as a yes!" Noah remarked as he and the Orthos flew off. Anpiel just watched him leave a small smile on his face that quickly disappeared as he returned his attention to the world before him. In particular he turned his attention to the waterfront.

* * *

Vivien took a breath as she looked at the blood covered hall and Abigail. "That should buy us some time." The Huntress stated as she put her mammoth sword on her back. "Still." She muttered. "Why would they bother coming here?"

"Maybe they wanted to make a public broadcast." Abigail shrugged. "Who knows."

"You think they were following us?"

"They better not." Abigail muttered as she looked outside. "We can't risk being tailed this early without realizing it." She stated as she made her way back to the sealed door. With a snap of her fingers she disabled it the energy shattering like glass before she pushed the door open.

"Oh, it's you guys" One of their allies sighed in relief as they looked at them. They lowered their weapon, giving the girls a smile as they stepped forward. "It got quiet so I started worrying."

"How's the radio." We're almost done getting the broadcast up." The boy stated. "Gonna try getting a message out to the rest of the world soon." He admitted as he looked at the others. The technicians were busy messing with once forgotten monitors and working with switches. Doing everything they needed to get everything working again.

"Awesome."

"Yeah." Vivien muttered before sighing to herself. "This jobs almost done, so what should we do after we're done, head back?"

"We'll need to stay here for a bit." One of the technicians stated as he continued working. "We'll need to keep this tower running, that way we can hopefully get a reply back downstairs."

"So we turn this place into a safehouse?" Vivien muttered as she scratched her head. "Not that I'm complaining, but should it really be here? This place sticks out a bit and it's not easy to fortify. She muttered as she looked outside. "And that last attack worries me." The huntress admitted before looking back to Abigail."

"Yeah, there's no way they could have just come here on random."

"You two sure it wasn't just a scouting party?"

"To big." Abigail grumbled.

"I think they knew we were here." Vivien added. "I think they were shadowing us."

"That's just what we need." One of the others stated as they scratched their head. "Soon as we get a message out lets rip out the hardware. We'll move it somewhere else, maybe back downstairs."

"No, if we are being shadowed, we don't want them following us to the entrance to the catacombs, let alone have them find a way downstairs."

"My brothers group was tasked with building a safehouse." Vivien stated. "If we reach them, we can get some shelter and some extra numbers on our side."

"Can you get in contact with him?" Vivien nodded her head before going silent.

'_Noah… Noah can you hear me?'_

"_I'd be concerned if I couldn't. What's up?"_

'_We're about to send a message out, and after that we're gonna head towards your group. You near em?'_

"_No, I'm actually elsewhere."_

"Well there goes that idea." Vivien muttered as she looked at her team. "My brother isn't near his group right now. So I can't use that to figure out where his group's located."

"_Yeah, but if you need to find my group I can still help out. I'll send you a tracker I got."_

"That's helpful."

"What's going on?" Abigail asked as Vivien raised her hand and held out her palm.

"My brother's sending me something, it should help us find his group."

"He can do that?" Vivien nodded as she looked at her.

"Using our "link", Noah and I can send things directly to one another using a teleport spell." Vivien muttered before gathering magic into her palm. After a moment she suddenly closed the fist and the magic dispersed. When she opened her hand she found the marble sized tracer resting in it. "Smaller than I thought it'd be." Vivien muttered as she held the Tracer in the light. Letting it disappear into her pocket Vivien looked at her team as she nodded. "But it'll do right, so how much longer we got before we send the message out?"

"Give us a minute." One of the technicians stated as they continued working. "Alright we're set." They gave her and the others a thumbs up as the static in the radio disappeared. "Let's get that message-"

"_H-hello?"_

The technician fell silent as they heard the voice, what sounded like a girl sending a broadcast of her own.

"_Is anyone there? Is this thing even on?"_

There was some chatter in the background.

"_I told you it's on already! It's just that no one's listening. No one's there at all!"_

That sounded like a boy.

"_Shut up! Don't say that! You can't… just shut up!"_

The girl again.

"_Listen, if anyone's out there, you have to be out there. We need you to come save us, please. Come save us."_

A bit of static.

"_Where we are. You have to tell them where we are dumbass."_

The boy again.

"_Shut up! I was getting to that!"_

There's the girl again.

"_We're at South Bronx Classical Charter School. There's a lot of monsters outside. And some inside too. Um, the teachers and some of us, they uh, they uh… I can't do this."_

Sounds of multiple kids crying in the background.

"_You're freaking the kids out. Go calm them down. Listen, I don't know what to say. I am probably talking to myself anyway. I guess… oh, God please, let someone be hearing this. let them answer. This is so dumb."_

"_It's ok, Brian, go take care of the kids."_

That sounded like an older woman. She breathed a few times, sounded like she was trying to calm her nerves before speaking up.

"_Listen… if you're out there, please come. We don't have much time left. Please just -_

"The other radio died." The technician muttered as the room fell silent. Vivien clenched her fist

"How far is it to the Bronxs?"

"Far." Was her reply. "We won't make it to them in time."

"_I can."_

* * *

Noah muttered as he narrowed his eyes. "I heard everything through the link. I may not be near the Bronx right now, but this Orthos I'm on can cover a lot of ground in little time." Noah stated. "Find a map, get the directions. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"_Thanks."_

Noah said nothing as he looked at the Orthos and patted its back to get its attention. "Sorry buddy, gotta make a detour." The Orthos made a noise as Noah guided it towards another direction. "We got kids to save."


	8. Act 1: The World of Armageddon Pt 6

Death.

Death was no new concept to Creation. Long before the Charred Council enforced their laws, Angels and Demons had waged their ceaseless War for what must have been an eternity. Across countless Worlds, the Maker's work had been undone; and across that graveyard of unmade and unanchored worlds, death had long outnumbered the stars themselves.

Death was nothing new, not to angels, not to demons, and certainly not to Man.

But this…

Looking ahead Noah stared at the blood and gore that had overtaken the school classroom and breathed. He could taste burning skin on his tongue and smell boiled blood. His mind played tricks on him, letting him hear the screams and cries of those that were now lost.

"Damn." He muttered, clenching his fists as he took everything in. "Too late." He told himself. He'd made it, but he'd been too late.

If only they'd been faster. That's what a voice in his mind tells him, reprimanding him for letting this happen.

_"__Noah?"_

Vivien's voice calls out from the dark corners of his mind, beyond the bridge that separates their minds.

_"__Are you alright?"_

"I didn't make it." He told her. "I… I let this happen."

_"__Don't do that to yourself Noah."_

His sister's voice called out.

_"__You did what none of us could; you came for them."_

"What good that did." He grumbles. "This school… it's for elementary and middle-schoolers." He tells her. "They were just kids." He whispered, feeling a phantom hand slip around his own. "And I couldn't save them."

_"__We can't save everyone Noah."_

Vivien sounded as tired as he probably felt.

_"__This is war… and you can't save everyone when War comes rampaging through."_

"I know." Noah admitted. "This war, its one we never asked for."

_"__No one asks for a war."_

His sister tells him.

_"__And this is one we were dragged into against our own will."_

"Story of our lives." Noah scoffed. "Even if you disregard "This one"." He begins. "We get dragged and drag people into our wars all the time." He muttered. "Our history is saturated in war and death, and its against no one but ourselves." He hated that about the Human Race. So many wars, so many lives lost. For what? Territory? Resources? Disapproval of one's opinion? Their fucking skin color? "I'm amazed our Kingdom still stands as it is."

_"__You're not alone in that line of thinking."_

Vivien admitted.

"_But there's a reason it still stands."_

"At the same time, theres's a reason they chose it as their battleground." Noah bites out. "Why?" He asks creation itself more than his sister. "Why are we forced to take in their War?" There's no answer. "We're taught the Great Conflict has been waging since the birth of Time itself. Whole species - whole worlds have fallen in the crossfire between angel and demon." He growled. "They were _bystanders_ \- part of the _collateral damage_." His growl turned into a hiss as power started to radiate off him. Boiled blood started to freeze over, walls started to chip and burn away. The remnants of broken objects - the earth started to shake, and he could have sworn there was a thunderclap echoing outside.

_"__Noah…"_

"But they - the _"Charred Council"_ \- chose our world to be where the timeless battle would end." Noah hissed his eyes starting to glaze over, wisps of burning-ash colored light starting to leave them. "Why? Why drag us into this - why drag our people into this _fucking_ war?!"

_"__Noah!"_

_"__Enough!"_

A new voice tore through the teens mind as he stood up straight, his power fading as he looked around. "Who?"

"_Compose yourself."_

The voice orders; it sounds like rough silk.

_"__None know why the Council cursed Humanity this way, not even their __Enforcers__."_

They tell him.

_"__But that matters little now. The Endwar has come, and like all before it; what starts with War will end with Death."_

They pause.

_"__You have always been sensitive in light of this truth. You hate it and I don't blame you, young Noah."_

It feels as though they wrap their hands around him in a hug.

_"__You may be a Hunter, but you are still very much a child. One forced to stare into the dark corners of this world and beyond, forced to carry on my blood soaked legacy, and that was not your choice."_

"Your… legacy?" Noah muttered before his eyes widened.

_"__Ancestor?"_

Vivien spoke up.

_"__A moment, young Vivien."_

Their Ancestor's voice whispers as they rest a phantom hand on Noah's right shoulder.

_"__Young Noah… your sensitivity - your empathy has always been your greatest strength, but it may also be your undoing."_

Noah flinches as his shoulder glows and on impulse his left hand goes to his shoulder. When the glow dies down he rolls up his sleeve as he stares at the mark now upon it. "What is this?

_"__Powers tied to emotion can cause more harm than the greatest weapon a bloodthirsty Maker could create, and the power that comes from carrying my blood can sunder worlds; Remember that."_

The Ancestor tells them, as Noah touches the strange brand like mark on his shoulder.

_"__That will stifle the power you inherited from me; keeping the Cataclysm at bay."_

"A seal…"

_"__It will lose its purpose in time, when you learn to control both your power and your feelings. Until then." _

"Is now a good time to get this?" Noah remarked. "This war, to survive it, I might need all the power I can get."

_"__Do you thirst for power then?"_

"No but -"

_"__The more power one has thrust into their hands, the greater the chance they have to abuse it."_

Noah went silent as he felt the words echo in his mind. Those words. Mother had said those words when he was young. To remind him how dangerous such overwhelming, intoxicating power could be. "That thirst for power brings out the worst in people." Breathing Noah nodded his head as he rolled down his sleeve. Power; he didn't crave it. Yes it was helpful, but… "Power corrupts."

_"__Power isolates."_

Vivien adds.

_"The more power one musters, the greater their isolation grows."_

Their ancestor continues.

_"__And the more disastrous the outcome will be, in relying on that power."_

A silence washes over Noah and the two shadows taking residence in his mind. "Thank you." Noah breathed as he looked at the Crossblade Necklace he held. "I almost forgot about that truth." Noah muttered. "Power brought by isolation, will not save humanity. Power through cooperation, standing together; that will be what saves us. That was what we were founded on. He accepted that truth. That was what they were founded on after all. Not just the Bellerose, but all Hunters. They were strong alone, but stronger together; sharing their knowledge, their skills. They would stand together, they would fight together. No one person had to carry the burden alone. That was what he was taught as a child. Breathing Noah took one last look around before raising one of his hands and held it to his face. He gave a small prayer for those he could not save today. "Ancestor, what should we do now?" He didn't receive his answer. "Ancestor?"

_"__They're gone Noah."_

Vivien's voice echoed in his mind.

_"__I can't… feel their presence anywhere."_

"To be fair, I didn't even know they could come into my head." Noah remarked. "I thought only you had that privilege."

_"__Even dead, the Ancestor has powers we can't begin to comprehend."_

Vivien remarked as Noah closed his eyes, finding the with her hand crossed and smiling a bit.

_"__Still after all this time, it's nice to know they're still looking after us."_

"Yeah." Noah agreed as he opened his eyes, walking away from the scene of carnage that was before him. "I'm getting out of here, I got an Orthos to return."

_"__Are you going to be alright?"_

"In time." Noah remarked. "In time."

_"__We save those we can."_

"And mourn those we can't." Walking out the hollowed out school Noah found the Orthos was already waiting for him, pulling itself off it's haunches as it saw him return. It felt his distress, but said nothing. Instead choosing to nudge him with its head. Noah just smiled as he raised a hand, petting a feathered head as he returned the gesture. "Don't worry I'll be alright." He told the Orthos. "And thank you." This detour was last minute, but you let us come here without complaints." He admitted. "Now, let's get you home." The Orthos released a noise before turning, letting the Hunter hop onto its back before taking off.

* * *

_Radio Tower_

Vivien just took a breath as she opened her eyes, her attention returning to the real world as she found Abigail leaning over her. "You're back." Vivien just nodded her head as she got to her feet. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah, Noah was just~ upset." She admitted as she looked at Abigail.

"Was he able to-"

"No." Vivien muttered as she stretched slightly. "Didn't make it in time."

"Oh." Abigail fell silent as Vivien crossed her arms. "How is he?"

"Hurting." Vivien admits. "But he'll be fine, in time anyway."

"What about you?"

"Me?" Vivien shrugged. "I'll be fine."

"If you want to talk, I'm here." Abigail stated. "We may not be blood, but we're human - we're Hunters."

"We work better together." Vivien stated with a smile as she walked forward, turning to look at the others. "So how's it looking?" Vivien asked. "We gonna address the world?"

"Yeah." One muttered. "Just let us get a second and…" He looked to one of the others. "We're good. Lady Synhart should be able to send a message out any second now."

* * *

_London_

She didn't bother counting the streets that they had taken. No matter how many they took, there would always be more to reclaim. The Endwar had taken hold of their world, and the demons had perverted Burn pollutes the streets, twisting it as it sees fit.

Under her helm Galahad simply breathed as she looked upward and narrowed her eyes. She saw the winged demons just fluttering about. They weren't retreating, they were just drifting almost, looking down on the world their kind had corrupted.

Galahad wanted a rifle, so that she might shoot one down - shoot them all down, but such things would have to wait. Glancing back at her people she nodded unconsciously. They were ready to march, ready to press on once more. Bleeding, bruised, they were ready to fight until Death took them. She could ask for no braver soldiers.

And yet…

"Rest." She ordered softly. "All of you will need your strength."

"It's still early." One of her brother's states. "And we have time before dusk settles." A truth it seems. "Should we not march a bit longer?"

"Look at them Liam." Galahad mutters. "All these soldiers, and all their wounds. "She adds. "Though the spirit is strong the flesh grows weak. They won't make it to dust at this rate." She tells Liam. "Have them rest, give them at least five minutes." Liam says nothing, just nods his head before relaying the order.

Galahad just sighs to herself as she looks at her bloodied sword. She's too kind. That's always been her weakness. They know it, she knows it. Kindness had no place on the battlefield. It had no place in a war.

Breathing Galahad reaches for her helmet and removes it, letting braided dirty-blonde locks be seen. Blue eyes stare at her helmet and she just frowns. "The end of the first day has yet to come." She tells herself. "Will we make it through the week though?" Would she survive the following days? Would she live long enough to see the second wave come - to see reinforcements come to their aid? "I have no intention of embracing Death anytime soon." She tells herself. "If he wants to take me, he'll have to wait." She states before putting her helmet back on. "And when he does take me, may even he grieve for me."

"Galahad." She turns to one of her sisters, seeing that she was touching her helmet. "You might want to hear this." Galahad raised her fingers to her comms as she tapped into an open frequency, and began to listen to a voice she wasn't familiar with.

_"__This message goes out to all that are willing to listen, regardless of alliance or nationality._

_You do not know my name, and it matters very little at this point in time. Know this; I am a member of an ancient order that has lived in the shadows since the founding of our kingdom, and we have made it our duty to protect this world from the forces that now plague it. Spilling from the once sealed gates of Heaven and Hell, soldiers are waging the latest chapter in a timeless war, and our world has been chosen to be their battleground._

_The Endwar - Armageddon has come._

_My order is already situated across the world; we are outnumbered, but we will fight to protect you as we always have, but know this is a battle we can't fight alone. We will need your help if we're meant to survive._

_Believe me, I understand that you're scared, we all are; but our true merit - our character is tested in these dark times like this. You can be one man, one woman, it doesn't matter._

_My Order was founded by men and women like you. People that had no powers, no special gifts, and still they rose to fight. Rose to protect humanity for countless generations._

_If you share their will… find us._

_We will teach you, we will protect you, and stand with you. We are stronger together than we can ever be alone._

_I leave this choice to you. _

_This is Rachel Synhart, signing off."_

Galahad let the message fade away and seemed to think to herself. "A call to arms." She muttered to herself. "Will humanity stand and fight, or will they lie there and let themselves be beaten until extinction takes them?" Galahad heard the call of a demon horde in the distance and the stomping of heavy feet. "I don't intend on kneeling before." She states. "Get up!" She tells her brothers and sisters and grabs her claymore. "We need to set an example."

* * *

**It lives! Man it feels like forever since I worked on this. Lack of ideas and motivation are killer. That said we're back. Humanity just got its war call, and the Templar are gonna lead by example.**

**That said, I want to leave this with a message, actually it's more of an response to a review by undead3. They already have their answer but in case any of you had the same questions they had here it is;**

**Q: Does/will anything going on have an effect on human pregnancy and reproduction?**

**Short Answer: Yes.**

**Long Answer: Its already been established that children of two kingdoms are possible. So half-angels and half-demons are possible. Also, if angelic or demon magic is like some form of arcane radiation - given Demonic magic/presence resulted in the demonic growth in Darksiders universe, there is a strong chance it could result in some mutations effecting the living and unborn children. To what extent would likely depend on the the level of radiation. Hell (no pun intended) the Corruption might (likely) even cause some adverse effects as that's its intention.**

**Now, regarding the Chosen. I would definitely agree in considering them a huge threat to a coordinated human resistance force. The Chosen - their species anyway - are "Old Ones" and if you check the wiki they're "more ancient than Angels and demons" an****d are either summoned or enslaved to be in service of other beings. **

**Now that said, all I'm about to bring to the table is nothing but speculation and a lot of guess work but here it is;**

**I'm guessing the leaders of their individual species and broods are typically the strongest and oldest of their kind, and with that run the natural risk of one of their brood trying to overthrow them in time. As undead3 pointed out Tiamet was stuck in duel for a relatively long time against an Orthos- and my guess as to why is that she was the new "Bat Queen" (Not Bat MOTHER) of her brood that rose to power sometime before - possibly after- the Destroyer won her allegiance. If before, if Samael hasn't been imprisoned yet, her presence on Earth might be nomadic; traveling from one part of the world with her brood and seeking to establish her own territory. Which after becoming one of The Destroyer's Chosen, happen to be cause her and the other Chosen to converge on the city used in the first Darksiders game.**

**Why? I don't know. Maybe its a distance thing? Maybe they can't be "to far" from Samael's prison without it weakening. Maybe after becoming Chosen they can't stray to far from the Black Throne - hell Straga was bound to it. Maybe the others were too. Again, that's just a huge guess though.**

**As for the Seven Sins; their appearance in Darksiders 3 where humans are still more or less out there means they got free relatively early. How early is question as yet unanswered. Darksiders 3 could be months to a few short years after the End War began, and during that time the Sins somehow found themselves out their cage and started causing havoc. If they're already free or going to break free soon it would work to introduce Fury soon and likely work to "influence" the players of Heaven, Hell and Humanity. Letting their own brand of "corruption" come into play. Hell given the council's own corruption, it can be implied that they _knew_ when the Sin's were freed and said nothing; just waited for them to "thin the herd" a bit before letting Fury go after them. **

**If that's the case... well they wanted humanity out the picture right? Humanity, the Sins, the Horsemen. They don't give a damn about the lives lost so long as it suits things to their own ends. What their end goal is though... questions yet unanswered.  
**

**Now that's everything I feel that needs to be out there for now. Maybe/ likely will be more later. For now though, this starts my return to the EndWar. Lets see how long I can keep the momentum going.**

**Be back later... hopefully it won't take me months to return. For now though, lets see how long I can keep this momentum going.**


End file.
